C O V E R F E AT U R E
Preparing for the Road Ahead: Tools to Win in the New Normal
T
here’s been a lot of thought and speculation from an array of
At the height of crisis, Retailer Web Services kicked
experts on what the “new normal” will look like post COVID-19.
into overdrive, providing independent retailers with an
Futurist Steve Brown, author of The Innovation Ultimatum: How Six
array of resources and actionable recommendations to
Strategic Technologies Will Reshape Every Business in the 2020s, told
reach shoppers. Simultaneously, their team embarked
Forbes in May, “COVID-19 has been called ‘the great pause,’ a time for
on a mission to investigate what independent retailers
reflection and introspection.” In the Forbes interview with Rodger Dean
need to succeed once the peak of the crisis is in the
Duncan, Brown went on to say:
rearview mirror.
“Stripped of the comfortable illusion of being in control,
RWS founders and Genna Majuta, chief customer officer at RWS,
behavior will not return to pre-Coronavirus normal in the United
consumers will move to reassert control over their lives in
examine studies on the effects of COVID-19 in other countries as
States until one of two things happen,” Majuta said to retailers on
ways big and small. Pantries will be kept stocked. Savings
well as insights from authoritative researchers and policy makers,
a webinar in May. According to sources at the University of Oxford
to economists and medical experts. According to Majuta, the RWS
and the Centers for Disease Control, these are:
rates will increase. Consumers will ask more questions
research team was focused on answering the twofold question, “What’s the likely scenario we’ll be facing as a nation and how will
about where products come from, how safe food is to
retailers make it through?”
eat, and what it took to produce and ship goods to their
Due to the profound impact of COVID-19, which has fundamentally
homes. Business travel will drop, perhaps permanently, and
altered the business environment in which retailers operate, the research team concluded three key takeaways:
digitization efforts will rapidly accelerate, as the increased 1
use of telehealth, online education, and home grocery shopping have ably illustrated.”
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The new normal period is likely to last 12 to 18 months from April 30, 2020, the date the federal government lifted the quarantine.1 Due to the fundamental shift in consumer behavior, retailers must prepare—sooner rather than later—to operate differently. Consumer trends that were present pre-crisis, such as e-commerce and home delivery, have been accelerated, advancing their prevalence by several years in a matter of months.
As evidenced on the RWS platform, online orders across the network increased 525% year-overyear growth in May. States have been in various phases of responsible reopening across the U.S., and spikes in cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations due to the virus continue to occur.2 As some people have ventured out, others continue to stay home as much as possible.3
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“Even after reopening, there’s good reason to believe that consumer
worked alongside a research team from across the company to
2 3
An effective vaccine has been developed and administered to 80-85% of the population
OR
A proven treatment/cure is available to 90% of the U.S. population that lowers the death rate of hospitalized patients to 1%
“It is going to take time for a vaccine or a cure to be discovered, tested, approved, manufactured and distributed and until that happens, we’re going to be in the new normal,” said Majuta. “For retailers, adapting to the new normal is the key to business survival.” Since the spring, RWS has been helping its retailer customers adapt to a new set of criteria consumers are using to make decisions: What will keep me and my family as safe and healthy as possible? As a result of social distancing, contactless sales and delivery where shoppers don’t have to enter a store to buy have skyrocketed. While some consumers are eager to come into a store, the RWS research shows that there will continue to be a large group of shoppers that won’t. This could range between 30 to 70 percent of consumers who will prefer to shop from the safety and comfort of their homes.
A Google survey revealed that during the pandemic, 24% of surveyed shoppers went online to purchase something they would normally buy in-store, and 87% of them said they’d try it again.
Reopening of America: More than half of states will lift coronavirus restrictions by the end of the week, The Washington Post, April 30, 2020 Live updates: Nine states report significant uptick in coronavirus hospitalizations after Memorial Day, The Washington Post, June 10, 2020 This is where each state is during its phased opening, CNN, May 27, 2020
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