The New Retail Model: Becoming Agile And Efficient
RSR conducted an online survey from January-February 2020 and received answers from 88 qualified retail respondents. Respondent demographics are as follows: 2019 Revenue (US$ Equivalent):•Less than $500 Million 9%•$500 -$999 Million 36%•$1 -$5 Billion 34%•Over $5 Billion 20%Headquarters/Retail Presence: •USA 64% / 82%•Canada0% / 40%•Latin America 1% / 14%•UK 33% / 48%•Europe 1% / 38%•Middle East 0% / 13%•Africa 0% / 9%•Asia/Pacific 1% / 20%Year-Over-Year Sales Growth Rates(assume average growth of 4.5%): •Better than average (Winners) 55%•Average 41%•Worse than average 5%
The research overview highlights that COVID-19 has changed the retail landscape, turning "nice to do's" into "must do's" for store-based retailers. These "must do's" will change multiple times until an effective vaccine is found. Employees are now on the front lines of a war against an invisible enemy, and reaction time is no longer fast enough. Even before COVID-19, retailers were already contemplating changes to their store formats to drive more traffic and improve the overall experience.
