WHAT CAN RETAILERS EXPECT FROM 2021?

FUTURE GAZING: JULIAN FISHER, CEO, JISP

WHAT DOES 2021 HAVE IN STORE FOR RETAILERS?

TRYING TO PREDICT WHAT 2021 WILL LOOK LIKE FOR RETAILERS IS A TOUGH ASK, BUT IT’S ACHALLENGE THAT JISP CEO JULIAN FISHER IS UP FOR AS HE GETS HIS CRYSTAL BALL OUT FOR THEWEEK IN RETAIL.

WHAT CAN RETAILERS EXPECT FOR 2021, JULIAN?

If 2020 is any guide, retailers can expect more disruption and uncertainty. What might have been considered a gentle shift from the High Street to online became an avalanche in the last quarter. With Black Friday turning into Black ‘whole of November’ and Cyber Monday becoming Cyber ‘every day-of-the-week’ the question nobody has asked is whether shoppers will have any confidence returning to bricks and mortar retailers. It’s a tricky question because, of course they will. However, it will be different with newer, faster and slicker brands moving into the positions once held by the long standing, unmoving and arrogant brands of old.

2021 will be the year that brands listen to their customers, adopt and master communication on their level and adapt to the pace needed to survive.

HOW WILL COVID-19 AFFECT RETAILERS IN 2021?

The Covid effect has already been felt. Cruelly, those who have survived may yet tumble in the new year. The high street adjustment is not finished and, until the virus is defeated, we may yet face changes of a kind we could have never forecast and would not have dared to imagine possible. As more businesses move online, competition will deepen. Customers will see some benefits and a narrowing of those ‘in charge’ – the gatekeepers of devices and marketplaces – will thrive where boundaries might be beyond any control. An indirect consequence of Covid on retail will be defined by a precious few, not by consumers and certainly not by retailers.

WILL THE VACCINE ROLL-OUT AFFECT HOW RETAILERS TRADE?

Today retailers trade ‘with permission,’ when tiers and lockdowns are relaxed. The only difference to trade will be when the vaccine removes the fear of infection allowing barriers, one-way directions, masks and quantity limitations to be removed. When the numbers of those vaccinated reach into the many millions the first effect will be on levels of confidence, and this alone will be the most notable.

IS EXPERIENTIAL RETAIL A THING OF THE PAST, THEN?

No. It will eventually come to define how and why we love to shop. In the decade that should have seen ‘experiential’ flourish, the shopping centre has been hard hit but remains the host. And centres will recover, even if it takes several years. One thing, above all else, has been apparent during this pandemic – we are naturally drawn to be together and to share – the hallmarks of experiential retail.

For the most part, not much. Whilst we are led to believe that costs will go up and some supplies will face additional bureaucracy, and perhaps some delays, the most immediate effects will be felt, absorbed and ‘normalised’ within six months. This, like many other ‘new’ norms are quickly adjusted to and will become the familiar ways we do business day to day.

HOW WILL THE REMOVAL OF TAX- FREE SHOPPING FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVELLERS IN THE UK AFFECT RETAIL?

People, especially tourists, buy goods because they want them, need them or simply because they can. Tax-free shopping was always a nice-to-have, not a necessity and certainly not the driver of retail sales.

WILL RETAILERS BECOME MAJORITY ONLINE BASED?

There is clearly scope for many more online-only retailers than high-street-based ones. In 2019 many online retailers saw the only chance to grow their business was to open up a physical store, and the trend was expected to grow in 2020 until Covid struck. The correct response to the question is to ask another: where do retailers want to meet their customers? And since a ‘customer’ is the same person whether they shop online or visit the retailer’s shop, the answer is to have a unified approach and be ubiquitous. Exactly what Jisp was created to deliver when it was introduced to retailers in 2015 – long before anyone realised that omni-channel defined the approach that would slowly but surely kill high street retailers.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO LOCAL RETAILERS IN 2021?

Making a success of retail is incredibly hard at the best of times, something we haven’t seen in several years. Small, local businesses were once best placed to survive, knowing their market, serving niches and addressing local needs. The cry in 2020 has been to support local, and we have seen many convenience stores delivering in lockdown to people stuck at home, where bigger supermarkets failed to. In 2021 we will see fewer small stores but what I predict is more collaborations – small businesses sharing the same space to afford its rent and rates and, more importantly, its customers.