It is undeniable: the health crisis of COVID-19 has fundamentally changed our lives and our consumption patterns. As the new “now” emerges, how can we, as retail players, integrate this new normal into everyday life?

Researchers say it takes 66 days on average to acquire new habits. After 56 days spent in this new reality, how many new consumption habits will persist in the long term after COVID-19 and will have to be taken into account?

In addition, other criteria are proving decisive in reinventing post-COVID-19 retail. At the center of all considerations: the end customer and the experience that each retailer will give him at the point of sale. The urgency is now to respond to the needs and fears of customers and not to anticipate their future expectations.

Many studies have already been carried out to find out how Consumers imagine their new shopping habits. 

This can already be seen in China, with a 55% increase in the number of consumers intending to switch permanently to online shopping, and an increase from 3% to 6% in global e-commerce penetration as a result of COVID-19. The share of consumers using e-commerce over the age of 45 saw an increment of 27% between January and February 2020.

Retailers must therefore quickly deal with the changing expectations of consumers and employees. As the situation gradually returns to a new “normal”, reconnection and bonding with customers will be the most powerful levers to gain the advantage in this new context.

Tip 1 – Adapt to the new preferences of your post-COVID-19 customers

In this reshaped world, retailers will have a key role to play in reassuring consumers and putting the point of sale back at the center of the equation to make it attractive again.

As stores reopen, it is still unclear exactly how the needs of consumers have changed. Certain trends are emerging, however: new requirements in terms of hygiene and cleanliness, increased sensitivity to digital channels (contactless purchasing options and increase in channels, etc.), concern for the product and prices, etc.

It is therefore essential to understand the “new needs” of customers and the irritants as they arise, in order to enable your teams to quickly implement tactical changes.

In addition to changes in consumer behavior, Brands can also expect a strong impact from the so-called ‘latent’, or ‘contained’ demand. For some consumers, the confinement has meant a pause in their purchases. 

The return of consumers to stores is therefore an opportunity for brands to renew or strengthen the link with them. How? ‘Or’ What? By putting the customer experience, recognition, and emotion at the center of the point of sale and of the new relationship between brands and their customers.

Retailers will also need to take into account many unique situations depending on the area. As the health crisis has not impacted all regions in the same way, it will be necessary to favor action plans adapted to each area of the ​​establishment by taking the real-time pulse of the evolution of consumer preferences as a whole. network. Knowing about these new trends will allow all levels of the organization to adapt in near real-time to the exciting and irritating factors highlighted and to implement corrective measures quickly.

Imperative 1: Give point of sale teams the means to connect with consumers

Faced with social distancing measures and a new nervousness about physical interactions, it will be more difficult for point-of-sale teams to engage and bond with customers. However, the need to converse and express oneself still exists among consumers. Because these conversations will increasingly take place online, brands will need to make tools available to their field teams, so as to create a link between the experience delivered in-store and the desired online dialogue.

Imperative 2: Promote access to the right information

Dashboards and indicators will not be enough to truly understand what has changed. Point of sale teams must be able to establish a direct dialogue with their customers. This will allow them to gather in-depth information, explore the enchantment factors and irritants, improve their customer knowledge, and then implement adapted action plans. By adopting an agile ‘Test & Learn’ approach, local teams will be able to resolve customer issues in real-time and share their results with headquarters and other points of sale in their network.

Observe, test, adjust… Time 1 of this “post-COVID-19” era will be capital to redesign the relationship with its customers. But this could not be done without the central link represented by the teams in points of sale.

Tip 2 – Engage the teams in points of sale to mobilize them around the customer

If the period is unprecedented and difficult to manage for the vast majority of companies, it is even more so for the local teams of the brands that have remained open. They have been, and still are, at the forefront of this health and economic fight. Also, each day, they will have to deal with anxious customers while maintaining a reassuring and benevolent posture. It is therefore essential to transmit positive customer comments to the teams to strengthen their commitment and motivation, especially in a context of crisis.

As such, we observe that 80% of members of Generation Y would prefer on-site recognition to formal assessments. Likewise, 63% of Gen Z members said they wanted to receive timely and constructive feedback on their performance throughout the year.

These customer reviews prove to teams that their actions have a direct impact on the customer experience and are a source of motivation and recognition. But this is only the first step towards the real challenge that awaits retail: to operate in the ‘new reality’. The engagement of point-of-sale teams is essential now to develop an agile and resilient strategy and ensure that the entire organization will be ready to engage in this new post-COVID-19 phase.

In addition to the measures that companies take to guarantee their employees – wages, health protection, health benefits, or flexible working hours – one of the biggest challenges will be to hire them. To achieve this, it will be necessary to return to the reasonable desire of retail: to deliver the best service and the best possible experience for customers.

Enable teams to become champions of the customer experience by giving them visibility on what their consumers really think, real proximity to them, but also the tools to implement significant changes.

Tip 3 – Emotion at the heart of the brand/consumer relationship

According to a study carried out in 2020: “at the end of the confinement, 62% of consumers will turn to traders who have suffered, or worked positively during the confinement.”

This development will benefit some businesses while hurting others, as retailers face a loss of customer loyalty. During the lockdown, consumers bought from more brands due to the availability or unavailability of stocks and delivery times.

At a time of the gradual recovery of activity, one of the main barometers of the customer experience, therefore, lies in the way in which the brands offer an experience in line with new needs and expectations in terms of customer relations, reconciling empathy, attention, and commitment.

All these criteria are brought together in the hands of the in-store teams. They are the ones who hold the most appropriate information to answer clients’ questions because they are in contact with them every day in the field. The information contained in customer reviews allows them to interact with customers in a more personalized way, thus creating a strong emotional link between the brand and the consumer.

In the post-COVID-19 retail era, customers have a more regulated approach to leaving their homes, visiting a store, and the act of purchasing. This is why they want real-time answers on opening hours, queues, and stock availability before leaving their home, for example … These are the personalized conversations between the point of sale managers and their customers who already make it possible and will allow in the future to strengthen or recreate the link with end customers.

A recent example that reinforces this need to be able to converse with one’s favorite stores, the latest feature developed by Google: Google Business Messaging which allows customers to simply chat with their stores using Google Maps.

It is by creating bonds of trust and real emotion that brands will recover. Of course, we must activate loyalty and attraction campaigns during and after the crisis, but above all, we must prepare the retail of tomorrow, by putting in place long-term customer management strategies adapted to the “new normal” of the post-COVID-19 world.

It’s obvious: more than ever “customer-centricity” is the key. It is therefore vital that each retailer questions how the interactions between the brand and consumers will be impacted.

The small everyday dialogues at the point of sale will be deported online. However, an exceptional experience supposes recognizing the key role played by those who deliver it on a daily basis: the teams in points of sale. It is essential to maintain this proximity through dialogue before and after the purchase through online interaction channels. More than ever, it is therefore essential to engage them and give them the means to understand consumers’ expectations in order to establish personalized relationships.

Because they understand the local context, are able to respond to requests and solve customer problems in real-time, point-of-sale teams play a central role in optimizing the customer experience. They are the ones who humanize the relationship between the brand and its customers on a daily basis.

To gain their loyalty and emerge from the crisis stronger, the key will therefore be a strong connection and genuine dialogue between point-of-sale teams and consumers.

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                                                   Author Bio

Name- Raunak Pandey

Bio- Raunak is a Mechanical Engineer by qualification & Marketer by passion. He is the founder of Maiden Stride, a leading digital marketing company that provides world-class search engine marketing services and website & application development.

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