What will the new normal look like?

13th May 2020

What will the new normal look like?

Over the last few weeks, all sectors of society have had to radically rethink the way they work.  

The retail sector is almost unrecognisable from how it was just a few short months ago.  With the doors of all but essential physical stores firmly shut, consumer behaviour has been forced to change overnight, on an extraordinary scale.  

Organisations endeavouring to remain operational throughout the crisis are having to examine how they can best cope with this changed landscape, and everyone is trying to work out their strategies for coming out of lockdown.  It’s an unenviable task.  Without a precedent, none of us can be sure how things will look in 12 months’ time.

Changing habits

One thing’s for sure,  Covid-19 is going to impact consumer habits for a long time, and will probably change things permanently.  It’s unlikely that we will see an immediate return to the high street as soon as lockdown is lifted.

A report by research company Kantar suggests the current situation will be the catalyst to speed up the shift to online purchasing.   Since the pandemic hit, there has, unsurprisingly, been a massive growth in those consumers who make at least half of their purchases online.  Whilst currently driven by need, it seems that the effect will be long lasting, as 60% of those surveyed say they intend to continue buying online once the crisis is over.

The opportunity

There’s seems to be a clear prospect for organisations to recover from the current crisis by moving to a more e-commerce based model.  And certainly, some commentators are saying that 2020 itself is not yet lost.  There is massive opportunity for increased online sales this year.  Predicted changes to behaviour, that very recently were forecast to take several years to evolve, are happening right now.  And whilst in the midst of the lockdown, worries over personal finances are restricting purchases to those seen as essential, there is a boom forecast in clothing and home electronics once confidence returns.  Indeed it’s non-essential retail that is looking like being the big digital winner longer term.

The challenges

That all sounds hopeful, but investment portal Morning Star warns that e-commerce should not be viewed as a magic bullet.  
In fact, for many organisations, what limits their success could well be their e-commerce offering.  A pre-requisite to capture that increasing on-line demand from consumers is a platform that can deliver a competitive and engaging user experience.  Fail to impress and retain visitors,  and they will go elsewhere.  A ‘good’ site will no longer be good enough, and those that succeed will be those that deliver a fantastic e-commerce experience, that are easily found at the time the consumer is looking to purchase, and that share great content to keep people on the site.
In summary even the best informed commentators cannot truly know what is in store, but there definitely seems to be a real opportunity for the digital commerce sector.  One thing is certain, to succeed you need to  be prepared for change. What applies today may be very different next month.  

Never has Charles Darwin’s observation been more relevant: ‘it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.’

Tim Roedel, CEO of the UK’s largest Digital Commerce Recruitment Agency, Simply Commerce, has been working closely with both retailers and full-service digital commerce agencies throughout the Covid19 period and noted: 

“The general consensus leads us to believe those retailers that depend on their revenue streams coming either entirely, or in the majority, from footfall are seriously considering their position. Irrespective of historically profitable trading channels, we now believe we will see huge investment in digital transformation across retailers of all sizes to ensure they can capitalise on the rapidly changing consumer buying habits forced upon the world during this Pandemic”

Andy Burton, CEO at a leading Digital Commerce Agency, Tryzens, who works with a number of international retailers and brands also commented:

 “Such is the pace and scale of change introduced through pandemic restrictions that what are coined ‘new norms’ have formed globally and across generations. We have seen our client’s online businesses deliver peak sales performances during this difficult time. The type of sales that you would not normally see outside of the Cyber weekend and Christmas period, picking up some (but by no means all) of the natural demand that comes from the physical outlets being closed.”  

“Without doubt, brands are seeing new digital shoppers arriving at their storefronts, and those shoppers will be experiencing first-hand the ease, convenience and choice from purchasing online such that new habits and understanding can be formed. I am not a protagonist of the concept of a “new normal” unless that ‘normal’ is acceptance of continuous innovation and adaption. We will look back in 12 months time with a perspective and insight of consumer behaviour and expectations that would have seemed audacious at the start of 2020. The challenge is to enable retailers and brands to embrace the growing scale of the digital opportunity. Put simply, the ability to communicate with, and influence more consumers through digital channels has never been higher, and the savvy businesses are learning how to empathetically harness that greater influence to build consumer relationships that will stand the test of time”, Burton concluded.

How is your organisation adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic?