When The Going Gets Tough, We Can Rely On Retail

Doctors, nurses, paramedics, ambulance crews – all among the key workers who are keeping the country running. And proudly taking their place on that list are the three million who work in retail. Promoted from mere shelf-stackers to key workers within the space of days.

They say that we’re a nation of shopkeepers and never was that more true than now. Retail has transformed itself within a matter of weeks, responding to the new demands that the COVID-19 coronavirus has placed upon all of us. And in doing so, not only has it underlined the critical role it plays in all our lives, but how important it is to society and to communities.

Trends which were apparent (and some which were not) that were anticipated to take years to mature, have taken a matter of weeks. Whether it be innovation through collaboration, incredible acts of generosity or making sure they do the right thing, there are examples right across the industry.

The supermarkets are at the front-line of this of course, rapidly recruiting many more store colleagues to cope with increased demand, collaborating with one another to ensure food supplies are delivered to the elderly and vulnerable, donating to charities or, as seems to be becoming the norm now, execs taking 20% pay cuts during the crisis.

However, in addition to hyper-collaboration, there’s another trend appearing which it must be hoped will remain long after we’ve recovered from the pandemic, hyper-local. Corner shops and local convenience stores, together with farm shops, and even pubs and restaurants who are re-purposing to provide grocery supplies for the local community.

We knew that the days of the big chains cloning our high streets were coming to an end but we articulated this in words such as artisan and authentic. But it is the trend towards hyper-local which the coronavirus has ushered in, that is redefining the nature of good old fashioned customer service.

For as long as I can remember, I have been saying that all retailers, not just the big supermarkets, should redefine their model away from the typical command and control from the center towards a more distributed, empowered organisational structure where the role of the store manager is elevated to one akin to running their own differentiated business. Local decisions taken within the context of a nationwide enterprise. Might this be the catalyst for such a move?

Right Across The Industry

But of course, innovation can appear, clothed in many different guises. Fashion is of course, not an exception on the government’s list of exempted retail outlets, thus all stores have been closed. Online operations however have been actively encouraged to continue to operate.

Next was one who chose to close their online distribution centers, but only to re-engineer them so that two weeks later, they could re-open while allowing their workforce to continue working while not putting themselves at risk.

John Lewis has launched “virtual services and experiences” for the first time, taking some of their in-store services online, including a virtual nursery, tips on home design and personal styling, while providing one-to-one advice.

At the new Nightingale Hospital in London, John Lewis have also created a “wellness area” for NHS staff and Tesco are building a pop-up store at the same site.

Primark, after facing an initial backlash after announcing that it was cancelling orders, has set up a fund to pay workers at factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Morrisons has given NHS workers a 10% discount on shopping for twelve weeks and network operator EE has offered unlimited data until October for NHS workers. And the YOOX Net-a-Porter Group has donated its delivery fleet to deliver essential food and PPE equipment to those in need.

Wherever one looks, right across the industry, there are plenty more examples of how retail is stepping up in the face of this crisis and in doing so, perhaps unwittingly, is driving a transformation which would otherwise have taken many, many years.