Experiential retail in the post-pandemic era

by | 21 December 2020 8:48 pm

By Kabir Mudgil

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only dominated global news headlines, but also dictated how businesses must pivot their strategy.

This year has been a point where addressing social, attitudinal, and habitual tendencies of consumers is a top priority for all brands to navigate through the economic turmoil and stay relevant and profitable. At the same time, worker health and safety across industries has become an important issue during the pandemic.

While healthcare workers, first responders, and others are on the frontlines battling the disease, staff in many retail operations are continuously working amidst the fear of contraction and lack of certainty. While social distancing and sanitization protocols have kept retail operations alive, the fact both asymptomatic consumers and staff members can have COVID-19 has created friction in the day-to-day environment. The uncertainty of others’ infection status has led to customers’ hesitation in visiting brick-and-mortar stores.

At the same time, this has also impacted the comfort level of retail workers while interacting with shoppers, thus affecting the quality of the customer experience—a critical factor brands cannot afford to ignore in a post-pandemic era.

The role of technology in health and wellness

A report by Deloitte stated approximately 12 per cent of consumers said they expect to shop in enclosed malls once a week after the pandemic, compared to the 22 per cent who shopped in malls once a week prior to the COVID-19 outbreak[2]. On the other end, based on union statistics (May 2020) from several retail companies, at least 500 employees across Canada have tested positive and several have died from COVID-19[3]. This has led to a surge in online shopping, an increase in attrition rate
of retail workers, and the inception of a new ‘stay-at-home’ lifestyle, pushing both consumers and employees to stay away from brick-and-mortar stores.

As the world recovers from this pandemic, providing a safe and healthy environment has been both a challenge and priority for retailers. Since the outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), and several other government departments have made recommendations, suggestions, and provincial regulations so businesses can respond to protect both workers and consumers in a physical environment. While this has helped contain the spread across provinces, at the grassroots level, fear of contraction still exists in the retail world. A comprehensive system that can empower brands to create a safe, secure, and constantly monitored environment not only for shoppers, but also for the frontline and back-of-store employees, will be beneficial.

Some companies have created a health and wellness system that has the dual purpose of providing consumers and employees with high levels of safety, and help businesses adhere to the health and safety guidelines outlined by their provinces. Such creative solutions encompass features from the parking lot all the way to the back-of-store, and also enable brands to execute dynamic and customizable digital advertising campaigns. Both advertising agencies and brands are pivoting in this direction. A clear sign of workplace safety has become a priority in marketing strategies across Canada.

How to keep control

Despite the mandatory face masks, regulatory 2-m (6-ft) distance, and voluntary hand sanitization measures implemented from the start of the pandemic, queue management has been a tedious task for retailers. Not only that, but consider the frustration consumers have expressed due to long lines and extended wait times, even during their otherwise monotonous and everyday grocery runs.

As a result, many retailers closed physical stores and others migrated to online channels to keep their businesses alive during the early days of the pandemic. However, as most of Canada is now entering the new normal, and the economy is witnessing a ‘return to retail,’ several innovative firms have pivoted to designing customer line queue applications for retailers who aim to provide a heightened and safe experience to shoppers. These applications allow a cloud-managed physical access where customers queue remotely and receive a text notification when it is their turn to enter the store. At the back end, these applications enable brands to secure mobile credentials at the same time, establishing a link to dynamic signage.

The importance of keeping things safe and clean in the new normal

With shoppers now going back to brick-and-mortar stores, the largest challenge retailers are facing is ensuring the health and safety of the back-of-store employees who work round the clock and keeping the area clean and sanitized at all times. Both brands and retailers have resorted to innovative technology to solve this problem.

Several digital signage companies in Montreal and Toronto have designed devices such as sanitizing robots and occupancy sensors to provide brands with advanced health and wellness tools. These sanitizing robots come with an intense pathogen-killing power and xenon light which covers the germicidal spectrum, resulting in fast disinfection. The advanced multi-technology occupancy sensors built on a digital architecture help monitor staff density in restricted company areas. In addition, the sensors provide data to further strengthen store management.

[5]Further, touchless hand sanitizer kiosks and thermal detection devices help maintain a regular compliance of mandatory daily health checks of employees as well as in-store visitors. Another device built on the same functional and technological framework is a people counter. The device’s 3D sensor allows people counting by detecting heat as they pass the sensor. This further connects to the hand sanitizer kiosk, creating a 360-degree safety environment for customers.

Finding the right signs for each customer

From a marketing standpoint, dynamic and interactive digital signage solutions embedded in the entire health and wellness system provide brands with a way to engage with their consumers digitally for updates, offers, and more. The system increases a brand’s chances of rebuilding connections with
their consumers within physical spaces
by delivering safe, seamless, and integrated brand experiences. Further, it allows retailers to rebuild brand loyalty and advocacy with consumers by providing critical safety information that can change instantly and dynamically at the backend.

Displaying relevant content, running software for loop and demand programs, and providing health and safety tips keeps consumers engaged throughout their retail journey—a vital ingredient for delivering immersive experiences in the post-pandemic era. While health and safety remains a priority in the new normal, consumers are eagerly looking to brands for experiences to make their journey back to retail outlets worthwhile. As both life and shopping are returning to normal, this desire for personalization is further challenging the online shopping surge which emerged in the early days of the pandemic.

While most Canadians say they are now more likely to buy online, this is a golden opportunity for retailers to use the power of experiential retail and build a bridge that will connect brick-and-mortar stores to consumers’ sentiments. That said, accomplishing this will require narration of an aspirational brand story and integration of digital experiences throughout all stages of a consumer’s retail brand journey.

Brands should position themselves as an entity driven by empathy, a sense of purpose, and prioritizing the health and safety of every individual associated with their operations. The key to successfully and safely delivering integrated brand experiences in the post-pandemic world lies in the skillful and strategic use of creativity and technology to connect, captivate, and convert.

Kabir Mudgil, marketing manager for iGotcha Media, is a Google and LinkedIn certified marketer based in Toronto. With more than seven years of agency experience in integrated marketing strategy and account management, he holds a master’s degree in business marketing from Monash University in Australia. He can be reached via email at kabir.mudgil@igotchamedia.com[6]. For more information, visit www.igotchamedia.com[7].

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/experiential-retail-in-the-post-pandemic-era/

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