Free Whitepaper: “Let’s not waste a good crisis” – How the retail sector can survive and thrive post-pandemic

Whitepaper overview . .

Working from home since the start of the first lockdown in March 2020 has forced everyone to be and think more local. That has proven to be a massive opportunity for local retailers to raise their awareness to people in their local communities and there is evidence that people have enjoyed that local connection. So, as the retail sector emerges from the pandemic, the renewed value on localism and local service is likely to endure.

But there remain other challenges and opportunities both in the way physical destinations operate – not least, the relationship between landlords and tenants; how bricks and mortar retailers deploy technology to better effect; and achieving a closer relationship and understanding between retailers and their customers. There is a need incubate new ideas and new retailers to bring them into the High Street and to help them navigate those difficult first couple of years to establish a business model that helps them to operate.

Research conducted by Maybe* highlighted that retailers that are trading most successfully through COVID, aren't really talking about COVID. Take Primark as an example. There is very little mention of the pandemic across their social channels, instead the retailer favours positive messaging. This strategy has resulted in endless queues on re-opening and an army of new, loyal customers. 

Within the whitepaper, our panel of sector experts recognise that things need to change, businesses must adapt. This is the time to create new partnerships, develop new interesting offers and above all, to not waste a good crisis.  Download the report now to discover how.

Topics discussed . .

• What Will The New Normal Mean For The High Street?
• What about the larger retailers?
• Leveraging The Potential Of Social Media
• Creating Brand Experiences
• Hyper-localisation and Hyper-personalisation
• Landlord & Tenant – Changing The Model
• Causes For Optimism

Dr Diane Savory OBE, Chair of the Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership and a member of The High Streets Task Force and the Retail Sector Council said:

"We need to focus on the importance of place and community. It isn't just about retail anymore. We also need to consider our young people and how we actually appeal to them in our places. And diametrically opposed to that is our ageing population, so we have two ends of the spectrum and how they're both going to want to be in those places. The other factor that's coming to bite us, whether we like it or not, is green streets and being net carbon zero. All this means a huge opportunity for entrepreneurship and small independent businesses and how we support those businesses going forward.”