COVID-19 has affected daily life and slows down the world economy. It has rapidly altered people’s life, industries, and global marketplaces. Its influence on the retail, consumers, and the e-commerce industry is powerful. Brands and retailers confront many short-term difficulties, such as safety, health concerns, supply chain problems, financial sheets, consumer requirements, and business income. Physical businesses shuttered as the lockdown drove individuals to remain home, with millions of retail workers unable to work. The retail industry has been hit hard by COVID-19 as it has lost physical customers, however, the retail industry has a chance to thrive online thanks to a well-established website, a unique brand history, and proper customer communication.
In each country, the retail industry is of prime importance. Retail sale of consumer goods is the most popular type of commercial activity in the world. Despite the economic crisis due to the coronavirus, the retail sector is actively developing and progressing. However, the pandemic greatly affected the algorithm of business. Retail is the sale of goods and services available to all customers in shopping malls and salons through Internet services (Bhatti et al., 2020). The most important element of this trade is the implementation of commercial activities. Another feature is the presence of a certain place where the exchange of goods and money, in most cases, it is a store. The enterprise can be large, medium, or small. In any case, the activity will be built according to the only established rules. They concern interaction with buyers and control services, sanitary and hygienic norms, and quality of goods (Bhatti et al., 2020). Moreover, the retail industry is highly labor-intensive, and any interruptions have huge effects on employment. It also depends on low- and part-time, on-call, and gig employees who do not have the usual social safety mechanisms.
As coronavirus expanded worldwide, the physical businesses shut down, and millions of retail staff could not do their jobs from home. Retailers need to develop a plan that ensures the security of their employees while maintaining their usual activities. Retailers must look at how their staff can deal with different scenarios and develop a strategy for crisis communication (Roggeveen & Sethuraman, 2020). Retailers may utilize stores to inform clients of the product variety, enhance brand image and promote online sales. Retail stores should also consider the impact these significant changes would have on the customer.
COVID-19 caused a global revolution in the introduction of e-commerce. This is due to the need for security and convenience of customers on the Internet. As a result of social distancing being implemented to slow the spread of the virus, there has been a decline in physical shopping. It seems that online shopping will increase as people have adapted to buying things that they would otherwise buy in physical stores from home much faster. Consumers now buy from the products’ websites consistently. Online merchants are strengthening their Internet capabilities and selecting various ways to interact with clients.
Retailers need to examine their existing goods and discover in response to various consumer preferences and expectations. Any modifications should be appropriately linked to the changing consumer demands and consistent with current services. Retailers should use rules and practices to designations for safe distances, sterilize surfaces and items, and engage with people proactively and compassionately (Chakraborty & Maity, 2020). Retailers need to speed up the processing of information and the production of new items. Retailers need to improve their customer relationships management (CRM) to deliver client support in real-time.
The pandemic and the resulting crisis will affect retailers and manufacturers. There are several recommendations for retail, such as the need to build pricing based on increased turnover and advertising. Moreover, the adaptation of the promotional policy is essential because – consumers love promotions, and it is challenging to move to the EDLP strategy at this time (Chakraborty & Maity, 2020). Therefore, many networks will continue to use the Hi-Lo strategy.
Altering consumer behavior also requires changes in terms of promotional planning, emphasizing new, fast-growing categories. Undoubtedly, in this case, a great chance dynamic pricing and the creation of individual and special offers within the loyalty program framework (Donthu & Gustafsson, 2020). The new reality does not mean shrinking the assortment and focusing only on low-priced products. It entails a qualitative change resulting from a new approach of consumers to reality, forcing the chains to comprehensively rethink their pricing and assortment policies.
Most economists agree that even when resuming retail trade offline, public spending on consumer goods will be significantly lower. The introduction of e-commerce will continue, as will the permanent closure of physical outlets (Donthu & Gustafsson, 2020). Therefore, the next few months will be especially difficult for leaders of the consumer sector and retail. Moreover, the decisions they make in the coming weeks could determine their business for the next five years. It is essential to have a plan to resume work at recovery and adapt to new realities. Traditional approaches to planning, characterized by long-term goals, seasons, and quarters, are too inflexible and ineffective to make decisions during a pandemic.
Designers can influence the future of the retail design environment by communicating with customers. Customer focus is a key element of a successful business. It is important to provide customers with quick access to products. It is essential to articulate the message that the designer wants to convey to the client. This way, the buyer forms a pleasant impression and expresses a desire to cooperate. In current conditions, proper communication is crucial in an online context. Also, influence on the future of the retail design environment can be implemented through an exciting story. There are now a huge number of interesting and original products on the world market. The designer must create something exclusive to interest the client and not to repeat the existing services. Designers can develop their own unique history of their brand, such as related to charity or helping animals. Originality in service delivery is a key element of success. (Pantano et al., 2020). Convenience is another element of influence on the retail design environment. Designers need to create user-friendly websites for their products or services so that the customer can quickly navigate the purchase algorithm. Retailers often lose a large number of customers due to poor site design.
The main task of designers is to influence the retail trade so that customers return to shopping in stores. Of course, due to COVID, many people have shifted away from shopping inside the store, because online shopping is much more convenient because it is fast. It is important to predict that people might be interested in returning to offline life. For example, a designer can create a concept of the store, which will combine not only shopping but also entertainment in the store. For example, arrange a photo area or offer coffee. Then people will choose to go to the store, because online shopping will be a little different. Also, the overall layout of retail stores has changed a lot. During the pandemic, a place for hand antiseptics and free masks were added to the interior of stores. This will not only help prevent the spread of the disease, but is to bring retail to a new level. Thus, retail in modern conditions requires uniqueness in the way products and interiors.
To conclude, COVID-19 has touched all sectors, organizations, and industries. The pandemic has resulted in the closure of numerous companies in most industries. The coronavirus hit the retail sector, as all sales had to go online. The economy has suffered huge losses due to the closure of physical stores. However, over time, everyone is adjusting to the pandemic and rebuilding the businesses that have endured losses. Designers can also influence the future of the retail design environment by creating a user-friendly website as well as a unique brand history of the products or services offered and ensuring proper communication with customers,
References
Bhatti, A., Akram, H., & Khan, A. U. (2020). E-commerce trends during COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Future Generation Communication and Networking, 13(2), 1449-1452. Web.
Chakraborty, I., & Maity, P. (2020). COVID-19 outbreak: Migration, effects on society, global environment and prevention. Science of The Total Environment, 728. Web.
Donthu, N., & Gustafsson, A. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 on business and research. Journal of business research, 117, 284–289. Web.
Roggeveen, A. L., & Sethuraman, R. (2020). How the COVID-19 pandemic may change the world of retailing. Journal of Retailing, 96(2), 169-171. Web.
Pantano, E., Pizzi, G., & Scarpi, D. (2020). Competing during a pandemic? Retailers’ ups and downs during the COVID-19 outbreak. Journal of Business Research, 209-213. Web.