The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an offline brick-and-mortar retailer collapse across the United Kingdom, accelerating a digital transformation.
Brick-and-mortar retailers are struggling massively due to Covid-19. In this time of uncertainty, every business has had to adapt quickly to a changing economy. There is little doubt that coronavirus has changed our lives in many ways, and in truth has caused chaos in the retail industry, as it has in the hospitality sector. The one take home from this article that I want you to understand is that to survive the impact of Covid-19 brick-and-mortar retailers have to go online.
Lockdown with brick-and-mortar retailers forced to close has had a massive negative impact. The latest four-week shutdown has cost the non-essential retail chains, which sell Christmas gifts such as clothes, toys and gadgets, an estimated £8 billion in lost sales.
Andrew Goodacre, of the British Independent Retailers Association, said the coronavirus crisis had meant the “worst time ever for retail”.
Rent-to-own firm BrightHouse, which had 2,400 employees, went bust in March during the first week of lockdown and appointed Grant Thornton as administrator.
For struggling brick-and-mortar retailers such as Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia fashion group and the department store chain Debenhams, the November shutdown was the final straw. Debenhams’ 124 stores are reopening only to run closing-down sales as administrators wind up the 242-year-old chain after failing to find a buyer. Joint administrators Daniel Butters and Gavin Maher were drafted in on November 30 to manage Arcadia Group, which owns Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Evans among others.
I’ve just returned from Christmas Shopping in Middlesbrough. The in-store experience is different to pre-Covid. Customers must follow one-way systems, keep their distance from others, wear masks, queue at many of the shops they want to go in and sanitize their hands on entrance. I can ensure you the spirit of Christmas was missing completely, the experience simply not enjoyable. You could see people were very cautious and it was obvious that footfall was still much lower than you’d expect this time of year.
The pandemic has forced people to stay indoors. Consumer behavior has changed during lockdown! For individuals who don’t want to go outside their homes for fears of contracting the virus, online shopping has become a very good alternative to meet their needs and wants. Who knows whether it will ever return to a pre-Covid norm.
What we do know is more and more people are shopping online. We are not just talking about the Amazon and eBay shoppers, but people who are buying their groceries, clothes, and everyday household items online. Pet foods, butchers products and everything you can imagine is now being bought online. Much of this is from local brick-and-mortar retailers who have gone online already. While their businesses remain shuttered owing to Covid-19 restrictions, hundreds of producers and store owners have moved their offerings online, many for the first time.
Online shopping has increased by nearly 40% since the pandemic began, according to an online study by digital-marketing firm Influence Central of more than 700 consumers.
People are going online and buying things they’d normally buy in-store. Nearly three quarters of people are shopping online more now than they did prior to the spread of COVID-19. Why wouldn’t they? All in all, e-commerce platforms give consumers more diverse and affordable delivery options. One in three consumers say that they would continue this behaviour, indeed they would increase their digital purchasing over the next 12 months.
In truth traditional brick-and-mortar retailers have been struggling for a few years against the rise of online shopping like Amazon but Covid has intensified the difficulties for them.
One of the most important ways small businesses can navigate the global COVID-19 pandemic is by transitioning to selling online alongside their existing brick-and-mortar retailing. Physical stores need to evolve to survive to meet the needs of customers going forward. COVID-19 has forced the local independent retailer into digitization The boost in e-commerce transactions is reflected in the numbers being reported by delivery companies. It’s a lifeline for their revenue
While we don’t know what the world will look and feel like post-COVID, diversifying your business now is a smart move to make. It’s difficult to say how exactly consumer habits will change once tier systems are lifted, but having more than one way to reach your customers and generate revenue will likely benefit you for years to come.
In today’s competitive market, running an online store will bring you more options that will consequently enhance your business, market share, and diversify your sales varieties. Ease of payment and time efficiency are some of the major reasons behind the success of the e-commerce retail world. To just survive in this market it’s even more important to have a strong online channel.
Many retail analysts think the coronavirus will permanently tilt consumers’ behavior toward e-commerce.
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