2021 TRENDS: 3/ The New Normal
We’re just beginning to see how the landscape of retail has changed in the Covid Age. From PPE in shops, queuing for your local supermarket and the on again, off again lockdowns, how is the industry adapting for this unfathomable change? And what trends will stick around long after (we hope) we begin to see a return to a more familiar way of life?
What we're seeing
TRENDS HYPERDRIVE
Coronavirus has not only forged new retail trends; it’s accelerated anticipated trends too. Recommerce, Value and generally a more conscious attitude to consumption, are just two of these. There’s a renewed love of local too, which is encouraging to see.
Our clients, Maygrove, found a demand grow locally for proper fresh milk from their farm. As a family-run farm selling boxes of high welfare meat, this would be a completely new venture for them. Tilly Lovegrove tells us about how she saw an opportunity to bring the farm’s fresh milk to locals.
With the traditional dine in restaurant experience well and truly curtailed for the time being, brands are trying to adapt and give us all a little taste of what they offer in our own homes. High-end steak restaurant, Hawksmoor, deliver to those nearby (an eight mile radius of their Air Street, London location) “select steaks, our most popular sides, starters and a range of puddings, all the hard work has been done for you, we’ll guide you through the final cooking process.” For those further afield they’ve put together “Steak Kit Experiences” – with cooking instructions and videos to get the timings just right. For a big occasion like anniversaries, birthdays and Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we imagine this will be top of more than a few wish lists.
Meanwhile, the already huge shift to online shopping has become more of a necessity than a preference. Previously those less au fait with e-commerce have increased their use of online retailers, especially those offering groceries and essentials. This shift in behaviour is likely to carry on beyond lockdown. This is good news for retailers who previously experienced online sales growth of 14% over four years saw a 25% uplift in a two-week period in March 2020.
MAKING IT EASIER TO ‘STAY AT HOME’
Our love affair with convenience and subscription services entered a new phase of necessity to try to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Americans have embraced curbside pickup, a trend which was already well underway before the pandemic started and which is now very likely to accelerate over the next few years. According to data from Salesforce Inc, retailers who offered curbside pickup experienced incredible uplift in Christmas sales. In a two-week period between 1st–14th of December, sales grew 52% year over year for retailers offering curbside, drive-thru and in-store pickup options.
Businesses have shifted their models, too, to account for our new lifestyle. Starbucks has recently announced their plan to close up to 400 of their spaces as they predict a revenue decline of $3bn due to coronavirus. Already 60% of their cafes have drive-thru services making it easier for them to adapt to the changing times. This is no step change in their operational plans, rather an acceleration. The company still plans to open around 300 new stores (down from 600). Of these new locations, 40 to 50 of the will only offer pickup or drive-through with no customer seating.
TECHNOLOGY TO THE RESCUE
The pandemic has also seen a leap forward in innovative ways retail is making it safer and more convenient for their customers to continue to shop with them. In Ireland, grocery chain LIDL launched a chatbot via WhatsApp which customers interact with to find out when their local store is least crowded. Coca-Cola have created a ‘touch free’ beverage dispenser that’s operated using a customer’s smart phone. Online fashion retailer ASOS have trialled Zeekit, a platform which allows us all to live out our fantasy of being a catwalk model and virtually try on clothes at home as a means to reduce returns. Hot on the tails of launching their own Virtual Sofa app in February, 2020, John Lewis created a Virtual Christmas Shop using AR where customers could “Move around the shop floor to see this year’s Christmas themes brought to life and select the tagged products to find out more.” We imagine this will be something more retailers consider implementing with another lockdown already in motion.
OUR TICKETY TAKE
Limitations can be a key to innovation. Whether that’s local businesses like restaurants and cafes changing to delivery models or big retailers using technology to offer the same personalised interaction as an in-store experience. Those who can shift at pace to what their consumers need are the ones who will succeed as the industry recovers in earnest. Or you could do nothing and be the next Blockbuster.