How post-pandemic retail might reflect a more careful world

Out of all industries, it’s easy to see how retail has been one of those that has had to adapt and evolve as quickly as possible in 2020.

When the pandemic struck, one of the key thoughts both business owners and customers had was how the retail experience would have to change.

However, aside from the quick adoption of new rules and technologies to manage risk during the pandemic, there may be ongoing trends in how people are going to shop more carefully as a generation of more germ-aware shoppers comes up.

Contactless and wait-less shopping experiences

Simply put, people have never liked lingering around in the store all that much and now that natural dislike has only been heightened by the fears of viral spread in public spaces like stores.

While simplifying and shortening the checkout process has always been a priority in the evolution of retail tech, now the introduction of checkout-free tech and touchless payments are becoming a much more active demand from shoppers, with over a quarter of all shoppers admitting they would be more willing to venture into stores that implemented these technologies.

The next evolution of self-checkout could be that the Internet of Things allows shoppers to automatically check out items while they shop, so they only need pay for it when they get to the end of store journey. 

A focus on a cleaner design

It’s not just a matter of the actual technology itself, but elements of the store’s design could play an increasingly important role in keeping stores clean and safe-feeling for shoppers.

For instance, flooring solutions like Ultra Grind Polished Concrete are likely to become more common across all manner of stores.

As retail business owners become more willing to invest in the cleanliness, hygiene, and safety of their stores, they can create a sense of confidence in their consumers. The easier it is to clean, the less of a risk of any viral spread in the property. 

Could store occupancy be a concern that remains?

In order to satisfy the conditions of lockdown rules across the globe, a lot of stores have had ot look at metrics of store occupancy, particularly to ensure that there aren’t too many people in the store at any one time.

However, while this technology was originally created to prevent spreading situations in retail, it could be used going forward as an additional security provision, or even to provide a more comfortable shopping experience for people in stores.

Retail traffic light systems from places like Data Signs could become a more common sight in future. This might be especially true if Covid-19 becomes a more seasonal illness like the flu, meaning that occasional lockdowns could become a reality.

Given the vulnerability that the pandemic showed in the year 2020, it should be no surprise that retailers are looking at ways to ensure they are ready to create a more careful and considerate store.

The above examples are just some of the ways that they might do that.