Discover the changes in retail customer experience from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic in this informative article. Learn how consumer behavior and expectations have evolved and how retailers are adapting to meet their customers’ new needs.
For retailers, 2020 was a year dominated by change as the pandemic had an immense effect on industries around the world. The fashion industry in particular was hit hard as retail stores were forced to close for more than half a year. According to Fortune Magazine, in the US alone 12,200 retail stores closed and consumer behaviour changed as a result of the covid-19 crisis. Let’s take a look at what retailers need to consider to enhance the retail customer experience, and what a start up should think of when launching a brand in 2023.
Retail Customer Experience: Online vs Offline
For years, online shops have been the biggest competition for physical retail stores, however as 2020 saw a large number of stores close worldwide, it became apparent that consumer spending behaviour and the way in which we shop has changed.
Richard Kestenbaum from Forbes Magazine asks the question of what the future of retail stores will look like and whether or not they are needed at all. For his article, he interviewed Ben Kaufman, founder of the retailer “Camp”, who explains that retailers should “event-ize” their stores, meaning they should create a space where people can have fun with friends and family by enjoying several activities.
“Retail customer experience is all about personalization,” tweets Brian Jamieson.
Want to build an effective retail customer experience strategy? Find out how. CXstrategy #personalization #retail #VTeam https://t.co/PoXP6EMg98 pic.twitter.com/qEkHEXVgZU
— Brian Jamieson (@jbjamieson) March 27, 2023
Women’s apparel stores for example could take advantage of fashion shows, customizations and performances by artists. Brands like Ba&sh have already worked on this kind of concept which is visible in one of the French fashion retailer’s stores in New York. There, customers can enter a “dream closet” where they can try some of the label’s signature items and borrow them for 72 hours. Monthly events for influencers and their friends as well as French lessons and pastry-making classes have also been in planning.
You can see where this is going, right?
We were lonely for so long during the pandemic, that we just need to get out now and interact with real people. This is where your creativity must be in top form. Think of what kind of interaction you’ve missed, and create it with your business. We have entered an era of people’s awareness that they need people. You can facilitate a great balance here to win at retail customer experience again.
We recall how in many countries physical shops needed to be closed due to governmental restrictions. Logically, those countries saw an increase in e-commerce revenues which is acknowledged by Petra Jílková and Petra Králová who wrote a report about digital consumer behaviour and e-commerce trends during the covid-19 crisis, published by Springer Publishing House.
“According to them, in 2019 Europe was the third largest e-commerce market with a yearly revenue of $351.9 billion US dollars. It was estimated that the market would experience an annual growth of 6%, leading to a revenue of $565.9 billion US dollars in 2025. However, due to the pandemic, European e-commerce revenues already saw a growth of 10% only in 2020. “
In their report, which concentrates on Czech Republic, both authors further state that it is not only more people who shop online now but also that their frequency to do so has increased. 12% of their study’s respondents had shopped online before the crisis, while 43% do so since the pandemic began. 9.8% reported they had already shopped online weekly before covid-19, whereas 25% have only done so since the start of the pandemic.
“Michaela Jefferson, writing for marketingweek.com, summarizes the situation very well, stating that when making plans for the future and re-opening stores, retailers do not only have to make sure that people will return to the stores and not turn back to their digital shopping behaviour after a while, they also need to guarantee that customers feel safe in the shop, whilst happily seeing more life out there. “
Impact of Social Media on Retail Customer Experience
When speaking of the increasing revenues in e-commerce, it is of course impossible to exclude the impact of social media and influencers on consumers’ buying decisions. Today, especially younger generations consider certain influencers on Instagram or YouTube as inspirations.
As a result, they are more likely to buy products which are promoted by those influencers since they trust their recommendations, feel the desire to emulate them, and enjoy the feeling of belonging to a community which is connected through certain products. As Peter Roesler writes for bizjournals.com, US consumers who use social media during their shopping process are four times more likely to spend more on purchases than those who do not.
Therefore, many companies consider social media marketing as the most effective way to reach their target group to positively impact the retail customer experience. Christine Moorman and Torren McCarthy, writing for Harvard Business Review, state that during the pandemic, social media has become critical to marketing in the US. While in February 2020 13.3% of marketing budgets were spent on social media, 23.2% were spent in June 2020 – an increase of 74%.
However, when thinking about launching a new brand these days, difficulties to make yourself visible in the jungle of brands that are advertised on social media should weigh in where fashion brands are represented in immense numbers. Consider here, micro influencers. People like yourself perhaps, who have the ears of your close network of family and friends. What a powerhouse the micro influencer can be if approached correctly.
In general, the fashion industry is one of the top industries which suffered the most from the pandemic. The State of Fashion 2021 report, written in cooperation by Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company, published at the end of 2020, projected the industry’s economic profit to fall by 93% in 2020 after rising 4% in 2019. The high decrease in revenues can be explained by the fact that people did not see it as necessary to buy beautiful clothes when they could not go out, and stores needed to close for many months. However, one fashion section that increased sales and became very popular during these times is home and loungewear.
As Angela Gonzalez-Rodrigues writes for fashionunited.com, the sales of pajamas, loungewear and comfortable clothing have exploded and the global pajama industry which was worth more than 10 million dollars in 2019 is expected to be worth three times more by 2027.
However, it can be seen as questionable whether this popularity will stay stable long-term once the world overcomes their anticipation of more pandemics.
That is, however, the million dollar question. How many more pandemics are we in for?
Based on this unknown, you must be agile with your business. Keeping yourself prepared for a blockbuster e-commerce positioning whilst also keeping the network of real people connected. That’s how you win with or without pandemics.
Sustainability and Ethics
The popularity of sustainable and environmentally friendly brands on the other hand is expected to stay visible for a much longer time which is why in recent times many big companies came up with “green” campaigns and more transparent production chains.
For an issue of the International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology in 2020, Kerry Bird and Jin Su investigated consumers’ behaviour towards environmental, sustainable and social apparel by collecting data from 399 US citizens. Their findings however included not only a positive attitude towards apparel sustainability but also a lack of consumers’ knowledge regarding social and environmental practices within the clothing industry. It falls now on the retailers to accurately label products and educate the consumers about the label claims.
Final Thoughts
Reflecting on these recent years is key to our learning curve about the new world and what we could be headed for. Once you are prepared for anything, you have the strength required to sustain your business through any surprises. 2023 is key to our preparation for success. Make a checklist and ensure that you have done everything possible to be pandemic ready and beyond.
Read more at: modestlife.style
Written by Miriam Chisti.
