After months of isolation and changing online shopping habits due to COVID restrictions, shoppers still yearn for the in-store experience. Although the retail industry has seen some tremendous changes in innovation in the past year in offering more convenient, touch-free services such as ‘BOPIS’ (Buy Online Pickup In-Store) and same-day delivery, shoppers are eager to return to stores.
‘Retail Therapy’ is real and people very much want to return to socially therapeutic activities that allow them to be amongst their friends, touch and feel products firsthand and walk away feeling as if they’ve found a real treasure or bargain.
According to a recent article in Forbes the experiences in many ways will be very different than what occurred pre-pandemic. Some notable changes include:
- Higher prices: Due to higher raw material costs, increased freight and shipping bills, businesses trying to recoup losses from the pandemic etc. the prices paid for goods and services could be up from the low digits to as high as 10-15%.
- Supply shortages: Raw material shortages will also result in reduced selections available. “Oversupply has been the name of the consumption game for quite some time and the idea of settling for something because it’s all that’s available will take some getting used to.”
- Longer Wait Times: As many parts of the country are still re-opening and retailers are working diligently to provide a safe shopping experience for their customers, shoppers will need to pack their patience. Retailers will continue to look for ways to keep foot traffic moving as they deal with limited capacity restraints.
