March FAQ - What Retail Story Has Surprised You Most in the Last 12 months?
One Friday, each month, I dedicate the post to looking at some questions I have heard recently from developing leaders. Sharing those questions and my thoughts about them is a way for me to spread the information to as many leaders and future leaders as possible. If you have a question about leadership, or just a situation you would like some additional insight on, please email me at Effective Retail Leader. Let’s take a look at this week’s question.
What has surprised you most over the past year in retail?
This is a fascinating question. In many ways, it is amazing what has happened in the retail world over the past twelve months. I do not think we have felt or seen the full effects of what we have experienced world-wide with a pandemic of the scale and scope that we have. Unfortunately, this is not over yet and there are still impacts to be seen on many businesses. However, there are many success stories that are beginning to emerge.
Here are a couple of thoughts on some standout moments or learnings over the course of the last year.
Omni-Channel is real. I think we all knew that meeting the customer where, when, and how they wanted would be critical. The speed at which that has become critical has been amazing. Consumer buying habits and trends have been forever changed. The convenience that has emerged in curbside pickup or delivery to your door in a very short time will impact consumer shopping patterns for the next era of retail. This will become a make or break area for all retailers, of any nature: hard lines, soft-lines, service providers, and even the food-service industry. Customers will continue to expect a seamless experience between the online presence and any physical presence of the business.
Brick and Mortar is definitely not dead, but it will change. Again, not a huge surprise, but we must acknowledge the acceleration of change the past year has had on what this will look like in the next couple of years ahead. How retailers choose to use their physical presence to enhance the digital one will be a meaningful element to a retailer's success. We can see the need and value of having storefronts in areas that can provide different customer support functions. These may be pick-up points, distribution points, and a place to touch, feel, and see the products they are interested in.
Resilience is strong. I just posted an article on how much resilience we all have and don’t recognize. This appears to be true for an entire industry. Even before the shutdown and life-altering events of a pandemic, many pundits were signaling the demise of retail. Yet, facing its biggest challenge in decades, if not ever, many retailers have identified new opportunities and reacted quickly to capture them. It may be too early to tell who the real winners and losers will be, but the fact that so many retailers remain poised to capture those opportunities shows the grit of an industry that seems to have many people betting against us. Don’t. The people and leaders in this business love it and do it for a reason. I have every confidence that retail as a whole will learn, grow, and see a revitalization in new and different ways, strengthening it more than ever (even if it looks incredibly different).
Remote is real. The ability to support a retail business from remote locations was likely something no one would have thought possible thirteen months ago (as of this writing). Now, field leaders have found new ways to connect with store teams and visit stores virtually. Centralized support teams have found ways to continue to partner and innovate to make some of the sweeping changes mentioned above, all while working in separate places. I expect this will forever alter the needs and idea for what a centralized support location will look like. The need to be in an office five days a week, and in a meeting room to get things done, is over. I believe there will always be a time, place, and necessity for face-to-face interactions, but the frequency in which we need to share the same physical space will be far less than it ever was previously. We have learned to work well together remotely and in most cases, found it to be more productive. There will be challenges still to work through, and the need for meeting rooms that blend physical and virtual connections will be critical to sustaining the needed levels of support for field teams.
It is hard to say that anything truly surprises me in retail anymore. It is such a great collection of people who are passionate about what they do, who and how they serve, that I would never bet against this group to find ways to overcome any challenge. That doesn’t mean that there will not be wholesale landscape changes, but new companies, new players will emerge and continue to enhance what we know as retail in the years ahead. This has been a difficult year, to say the least, but looking ahead, there is just as much to be excited about as well.
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