The Future Of Retail: How The Coronavirus Is Changing Shopping Habits

As states across the U.S. begin to get back to business — not as usual, but in phases — we take a look at the evolving retail landscape and how people will shop in a post-pandemic world.

Guests

Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN business retail reporter. (@nmeyersohn)

Doug Stephens, founder of “Retail Prophet.” (@RetailProphet)

Barbara Kahn, professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Author of “The Shopping Revolution: How Successful Retailers Win Customers in an Era of Endless Disruption.” (@barbarakahn)

Neela Montgomery, CEO of Crate & Barrel. (@CrateandBarrel)

From The Reading List

Axios: “Survival of the biggest: Coronavirus transforms retail” — “The titans of the retail industry — Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco — are poised to come out of the coronavirus crisis even stronger and more formidable than they were before, as smaller rivals suffer and wither.”

NBC: “Retail has been on life support — coronavirus could pull the plug” — “With hundreds of thousands of stores closed nationwide, the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating dramatic changes across the retail industry that had been underway well before the viral outbreak hit the U.S., according to analysts.”

Forbes: “The Domino Effect: 5 Ways Coronavirus Will Forever Change Retail” — “Following World War II, i.e. the last event of a similar magnitude to what the world now faces with coronavirus, the United States was focused on controlling the spread of communism. One popular theory at the time, domino theory, suggested that the rise of communism in one nation could quickly spread into other nations. And, while this Cold War-era paranoia is no longer relevant in today’s day and age, the concept is nonetheless still useful in examining what impact the events of the last few weeks will have on the future of many industries, especially retail.”

CNBC: “Curbside pickup at retail stores surges 208% during coronavirus pandemic” — “The coronavirus pandemic is making curbside pickup much more valuable to customers and more beneficial to retailers, as many stores remain shut to try to curb the spread of Covid-19.”

Fortune: “The retailers that are smartest about shopping tech will finish on top after the coronavirus” — “It may be a misnomer to call anyone in retail a ­’winner’ right now, when stay-at-home and social-distancing measures have shut down hundreds of thousands of U.S. stores and threatened consumers’ spending for the foreseeable future. But look at the few chains that have managed relatively well in this chaotic time, and you’ll gather clues about what it will take to come out ahead in the industry, both now and long after the virus has been contained. “

This article was originally published on WBUR.org. [Copyright 2020 NPR]