Getting Ready for a Global Conversation on ‘Operating to the New Realities’
Shop Talk LIVE began a global convenience industry conversation 35 days ago. Since then over 1,500 colleagues from 45 countries have participated as panellists, presenters or in the audience.
This Friday we’ll have our 6th webinar and we’ve invited Scott Annan and Dev Dhillon back, plus as our special retail guest: David Sands, to talk with us about ‘operations’, part 2 of their very detailed report intended to help food businesses successfully and profitably operate in the new normal.
Scott and Dev have provided a copy of their report as a pre-read, which you can download below. Then on Friday at 2pm UK time, you will have the chance to question the authors during Shop Talk LIVE. Submit your questions in advance or as we are broadcasting. Register here!
As a taster, I’ve written some of my thoughts and reflections on the report.
The Shape of Food Retailing in the New Normal 2: Operating to the New Realities
Phases of Lockdown – what will they look like?
This report breaks new ground in its clear explanation and differentiation between the impacts, consequences and opportunities within and between distinct “Phases of Lockdown”. The authors create a very clear grid showing the different industry impacts from a Level 4/5 lockdown versus a Level 3 lockdown, which makes fascinating reading. One of the key discussion points will be the different scenarios.
Suddenly Government matters more – how will this impact upon the industry?
For the badly affected countries, political and economic decisions suddenly matter more than they have in a long time. This report sets out how the authors see retail operating procedures developing this year and next “as businesses adapt to their customers’ needs and Governments change their priorities”.
A medium-term strategy – is it time to look up and plan ahead?
The chaos of the first few months of the pandemic has settled and food retailers now wrestle with the challenge of defining their medium-term strategy for the new normal. The immediate task at hand is to plan for the future by making the necessary structural changes to operating models. These are longer-term actions, with interdependencies and will require more considered planning than the fast interventions made during the first few months of the pandemic.
Foodservice and hospitality – can we even achieve 50% in the first year?
Tackled head on, one of the really big questions is how this will play out for the foodservice and hospitality sector. What is the shape of these cafes, pubs, restaurants and hotels if social distancing is in place, be that through Government mandate or consumer demand? Can these businesses run at 50%?
Business conduct in the digital economy – time for a level playing field?
Wider society has rediscovered just how important high street retail is to community welfare. The report concludes; “governments will look to redress cost inequalities between online and physical retail” and cites San Francisco (and other US cities) as an example of UberEats and DoorDash being constrained by policy makers, to a maximum 15% commission rate charge to their retail customers: “The margins operated by these platforms have now become a corporate social responsibility issue.”
Hygiene, safety and product availability – what does good look like?
The authors see hygiene, safety and product availability as the primary considerations for customers in the new normal and that “the immediate impact of this is a new set of non-negotiable requirements for retailers operating in the post Covid-19 landscape.”
Front line retail workers – how to manage team welfare?
The Pandemic has added impetus to the debate on the value of front-line retail workers and the authors set out best practice to help retailers ensure they control their own narratives – by putting their teams at the top of their priority list.
Space is good – are larger stores winning?
Minimisation has been turned on its head – larger stores have been benefiting from more footfall because customers are more comfortable shopping where space allows easier social distancing. As the report says: “Creating a safe space that inspires confidence is the most significant customer requirement in the new normal” – the report explains how retailers can make it easier for customers to apply social distancing within the store.
Revised offers – can retailers implement fast/substantial change to the product range?
During Level 5 Lockdown convenience stores experienced increased demand for grocery, frozen food and alcohol whilst demand for food to go and hot beverage plummeted. This was a challenging shift for retailers to manage as they were suddenly required to reallocate space to categories and sub-categories that had been consolidated into smaller footprints.
Food to go – will this be one of the areas which sees greatest innovation?
Areas dedicated to food to go are difficult to repurpose and it was common to see parts of the store effectively mothballed. Food to go sales will return, albeit reinvented, to give consumers maximum confidence that items have been produced and displayed hygienically.
Customer communication – who’s done this well?
Successful operators have focused their customer communication on hygiene, safety and product availability. This has been achieved by stopping non-essential marketing and any noise that detracts from those customer-critical messages. Social media has been a particularly effective tool.
Voice of the customer – what’s new?
The authors explain that the collective shock to the system experienced by the world will lead to profound shifts in consumer behaviour; “In the old normal we could see trends emerge in the distance, track them and adapt consumer propositions over time. This luxury does not exist in the new normal. The catalyst for consumer change is a pandemic – a traumatic event. We are only beginning to understand how this trauma will lead to a different consumer landscape”. Themes are already being identified: Value for money, Crisis in confidence, Desire to return to normal, Rise in tech.
Join the author’s this Friday on Shop Talk LIVE. Register now.
