What will retail’s “new normal” look like after COVID?

Nov 12, 2020
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Written by wpengine
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Many retail analysts believe retail will continue to evolve after the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the adjustments shoppers have made will stick, they figure.

Chris Bruderle, senior Director of Research and Analytics for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, projected three possible outcomes for retail in a recent column.

Here they are:

  • The increase in digital shopping has driven consumers to try new brands. He thinks many will stick with the new brands they discovered, which will challenge established brands to retain their customers.
  • If store traffic decreases due to more online buying, customers may return to brick-and-mortar stores for more purposeful visits, challenging cross-selling opportunities.
  • Online stores, which can’t duplicate the experience of buying in a store, will face challenges to add more services to compensate. This could take the form of adopting virtual reality and other virtual shopping tools as well as concierge services, learning and entertainment functions. Additionally, brands will have to digitally reconfigure shopping experiences that traditionally required in-person test runs, try-ons and samples.