Five Ways that Corona Will Change The World of Retail

As more and more states are talking about reopening restaurants, stores, and public spaces, many questions arise. What will this look like? Will we have to take our temperatures before being seated or entering into stores? Ultimately, how will Corona change the world of retail?

Before Corona, many retail companies have been experimenting with new ways of fostering employee-customer relationships and exploring automation. There is no doubt that Corona will halt developments in certain areas while accelerating the growth in others. Here are 5 key trends and changes that I think are worth noting.

Increased Focus on Conversational commerce

Retailers are trying to find new ways to connect and foster relationships with customers. While conversational commerce has been on the rise already, corona will push the ubiquity of the technology. Conversational commerce is simply automated technology allowing customers and brands to interact via chat or voice. I am sure that many of you have already spoken to a chat or a voicebot whether that be through a business app, Facebook messenger, Amazon’s Alexa, or WeChat. Instead of jumping through hoops, through conversational commerce, customers can leave reviews, receive order status, get personalized recommendation, and inquire about specific products. Startups like Hero can connect you to your local store through text and video at the comfort of your own home or allow you to ask for help virtually about a specific product while in store. Corona has pushed the implementation of conversational commerce forward, so don’t be surprised when you have brands sliding directly into your dms asking if you enjoy your most recent purchase!

Emphasis on Virtual Try-ons

Right now the thought of rummaging your hands through a pile of sweaters that others have also touched to find your size sounds like a disgusting feat. Perhaps this is the much needed push for retailers to experiment with virtual reality. From Macy’s VR furniture shopping to Sephora’s virtual lipstick color try-on, I am sure you have already seen retailers take the leap to integrate this new technology. While Alibaba is introducing a full VR shopping experience where you can walk around the entire store from the comfort of your home and make purchases with a blink of an eye (literally), others like Perfect Corp are using AR and AI to create interactive experiences for beauty brands. Perfer Corp. has just partnered with Benefit so that users can try on Brow solutions to further grow Benefit’s omnichannel strategy. I wouldn’t be surprised if more clothing retailers started partnering with startups like triMirror to offer either in-store or at-home virtual try-ons.

Era of the QR-code economy

Along the lines of not wanting to touch anything, corona has accelerated the growth of the Quick Response Code Economy where there is a digital connection between people, things, and information. While the use of QR codes has notably been adopted in China and has aided the exponential growth of mobile payments, there is still room for exploration. It is highly likely that more retailers will adopt the use of QR codes for faster checkout process and faster information exchange. For example, Citcon which is a mobile payment platform is coming together with “Tulip, an in-store mobile application provider” to allow various fashion brands such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Kate Spade, Coach, Michael Kors and Bonobos who are already Tulip customers to accept QR codes. Retailers could also look to have customers scan a product’s QR code to obtain more information about size, colour, price, and payment options. This reduces the need for unnecessary interactions with store associates.

Boom in Automation and self-cleaning technologies

Cleanliness is definitely one of the biggest concerns for brick and mortar stores looking to reopen. Making sure that everything from the floor to the displays pass safety measures is a priority and a monotonous task which can be easily automated. At the beginning of 2019, Walmart commissioned 360 BrainOS-powered floor-cleaning robots in stores. We would probably see more of these AI services and automated commercial floor scrubbers running around in the near future. Furthermore, there has been more innovation in the development of self-cleaning surfaces which can be categorized as the development of smart materials. NanoSeptic surfaces turn hightouch point areas into self-cleaning surfaces through the oxidation process. These smart materials could be part of the solution for paranoid customers. There are many more startups emerging in this space, and considering the state of corona, there will be many more.

Aim to be as contactless and as frictionless as possible

Bottomline is that these technologies are trying to streamline the buying process and eliminate unnecessary contact. While not many retailers can beat Amazon Go’s technology, they can try to replicate the cashierless experience. Startups like Standard Cognition which allows for autonomous and frictionless checkout just acquired Milan, another machine learning and AI research company, to accelerate developments on retail solutions. No doubt that many retailers will be looking to these solutions as new ways to shop post-pandemic. Furthermore, to streamline the process of inventory management, startup Bossa Nova Robotics has introduced shelf-scanning inventory robots to search the shelves for missing items so that employees can reduce foot traffic around large stores. These robots are already implemented in 1,000 Walmart stores. Anything to streamline the check out process and inventory management systems would be welcomed by retailers.

While it is important to think about ways retailers will adapt to corona, it is equally important to think about how your sentiments as consumers have and will change because of the pandemic. According to Datassential, even if social distancing measures were eased, 52% of US consumers would not feel comfortable eating at a restaurant; 55% of US consumers would not feel comfortable staying at a hotel; 49% of US consumers would not feel comfortable going out to do non-essential shopping. Even if states relax measures and even if stores open up, the question then becomes whether or not consumers want to or are ready to step foot in a store with other people.