Retail Reentry: ‘Business As Unusual’

In a week where we’ve been reeling from the news of the biggest single monthly retail sales drop since the government began keeping track of it, we are all trying to grasp what’s next. Timelines for some type of reopening are sketchy at best. What is more important than identifying a date to begin what might be described as “business-as-unusual”, is to fully appreciate the public’s mindset. After enduring one of the most disruptive and transformative events of our lifetime, we will all be feeling levels of anxiousness about what’s next.   

We’ve heard and read a lot about the importance of testing, both for the active virus, as well as anti-body tests to establish who may have immunities to COVID-19. Knowing these risk factors will impact who among us are equipped to begin “normalizing” and interact with others. And, given that the most ambitious timetable for mass distribution of a coronavirus vaccine is early to mid-2021, it’s safe to assume that the “reentry” will be a rolling one. It will vary, based on geography, age, personal health profiles, occupations, etc. For retailers, and all those that are part of the retail ecosystem, establishing a sense of trust will become job one.

A Matter of Trust

No matter how many stores reopen, or where they exist, the retailers and brands will need to communicate the very real, tangible, and transparent initiatives that have been undertaken, regarding the well-being of their customers and valued employees. Trust has now replaced convenience, value, price, or about anything else as the retail metric that matters most.

Before customers will begin making non-essential purchases, a host of new considerations must be addressed, beyond the rudimentary decisions that retailers, landlords, or mall managers ever contemplated. It will become more like choreographing a dance, than merchandising a pair of pants.

Online Has Been Mainlined

What is undeniable, is that online retail and particularly grocery retailers, have made unimaginable gains, in a matter of a few weeks. Moreover, as we’ve been spending $11,000 per second on Amazon during the pandemic, they’ve transitioned from mega-vendor to economic infrastructure and there’s no going back. So, what is the role for all who are not Amazon; and how has that changed over these few but highly consequential weeks?

Besides Amazon, sitting atop the food chain (literally and figuratively), are the big three, Walmart, Target, and Costco. Their ability to perform near mythical feats of supply chain and replenishment prowess, has been burnished into our minds. The heroics of their vital front line personnel, who have endured arduous hours, and threats to their health and well-being will be long remembered. I believe that the goodwill that has resulted from these companies’ efforts, will put them in good standing as consumers transition from pandemic pantries to discretionary spending. I know, I for one can’t wait to retire my sweatpants and hoodie for some new Target performance casualwear.

Reopening Main Street

There will be pent up demand for goods and services provided by local, small business retailers once we get back to “business as unusual.” This will be the outgrowth of a new sense of community connectedness, in the post shelter-in-place period. It will fuel the surviving small businesses with customers looking to buy local like never before.

I, along with many of my many Forbes.com contributors’ have been recommending that in the downtime, indie retailers attend to their e-commerce and social media side of their businesses. Those that did will likely restart with new insights and appreciation for unified commerce. More importantly they will have retained the goodwill and a sense of camaraderie with their loyal customers. Even without a finite opening date, they should all be telling their followers how the customer experience will be altered to ensure their safety and that of their valued employees.

More Mall Malaise

Unfortunately, the biggest loser of the post-pandemic purchasing period will be the malls and all that lie within their walls. While there is indeed likely to be pent up demand for “retail therapy” and even well-earned indulgences, the combined efforts of both mall and retailers to insure “safe passage” will compound stressors that existed just weeks previous to closing. It will be incumbent upon all parties to begin painting the picture of how social distancing and disinfecting initiatives will be implemented, in order to deal with the public’s anxiousness.

Consideration should be given to employing third-party certification services (think Good Housekeeping Seal) that will establish ratings and review of ongoing cleanliness and contamination free environments. Terminex Commercial has a site disinfecting service called Disinfectiv that meets the criteria established by the U.S. EPA for use against the COVID-19 coronavirus. These and similar services could help alleviate the angst that consumers will feel about “reentry.”

Another possible way for the malls to become part of the solution to our current crisis would be for the major shopping center owners to initiate drive-thru antibody testing. This would be deemed a valuable public service and could be a relatively inexpensive undertaking. Empty parking lots could quickly be put to use, helping to build a valuable data base that would aid municipalities, and state governments at a crucial time. Additionally, it would be an authentic, positive expression of community involvement at a time when most of the mall’s could use some great press.