Leading the Retail Revival in the Pandemic Era
Four years ago
by Melissa Webber, Holy Cow! Creative and Jennifer Cook, Customer 360
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is ongoing and will have a lasting impact on how we do business. As shopping centres grapple with the immediate challenges of restoring shoppers’ confidence in returning to public places and still meeting the needs of those who don’t, we take a look at the implications for shopping destinations and what a successful retail revival requires.
Culture of care
During the height of social restrictions, measures such as special supermarket shopping hours for vulnerable groups, high visibility and frequency cleaning, and customers having their temperature taken at store entrances became commonplace. Whilst these actions are necessarily reactive in nature, there has been increased focus on wellness in commercial environments for nearly a decade.
To overcome the community sentiment during restrictions, that shopping centres may be unclean and therefore unsafe, it’s important to develop authentic messaging to assuage fears and restore positive mental associations. Ensure communications are less about needs and priorities and more about connections and community, and that they evoke positive emotional responses.
Rapid adaptation
“Necessity is the mother of invention” never rings more true than in a crisis. Covid-19 testing in shopping centre carparks, overnight category changes as pubs became the new corner stores, distillers switching from gin to hand sanitiser and restaurateurs practically invented a new dining category – fine dining takeaway. Adaptability has always been an essential skill for retail success, and the need for change has never been more compelling.
As retail restrictions were implemented almost overnight, most organisations were unprepared for the immediate need for urgent communication material and many reacted in ways that potentially damaged their brand. How many e-newsletters did you receive from companies that you haven’t heard from in years, letting you know just how much they cared about you?!
Should unforeseen events with such immediate impact recur – a terrorist act, natural disaster, another health crisis – a suite of adaptable communication material ready to go, that reflects their overall Crisis Plan, is an invaluable asset.
Hands free environments
“Contactless” is another new arrival to the pandemic era lexicon. The arrival experience is defined by hand sanitiser, counter shields and hastily erected queuing systems. How do we create an environment that looks and feels safer?
Rethink the customer journey – there are opportunities for reducing surface contact everywhere from the parking machine to amenities and wayfinding systems. Services such as multi-retailer drive through pickup, virtual queuing and on-demand delivery of anything and everything, are evolving to become essential offerings, if centres are to retain loyalty and serve customers long term.
Together-apart
Ironically we’ve been searching for ways to stay closer and more connected to customers for years, but in a few short weeks we’ve learnt a new term – “social distancing”. Some of the most innovative responses we see from brands teach us that we can still be together even when we are physically apart. Online beauty consultations, Zoom fitness classes and wine tasting events, even “virtual clubbing” keep us connected to our old passions and help us discover new ones.
Shopping destinations still have vital roles to play as places of community and connection, but we need to redefine “inclusiveness” as providing experiences to both physically present and remote customers in our increasingly omni-channel world.
The road to resilience requires a fundamental shift to embrace omni-channel retailing more than ever before. We can no longer track success through footfall and parking spaces alone. Customers are only “lost” to us if we fail to follow and change with them.
Much of this change however, was impacting the retail industry well before Covid-19. That is the nature of a crisis – it accelerates the shifts that were already underway.
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