There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of life. Lockdown drove everyone indoors and drove businesses to a halt. Due to public safety concerns, our retail habits that we once took for granted have been dramatically altered over the course of these several past months. It has been a learning process for everyone around the globe but the customer experience may have also started to evolve into something better.
The customer’s safety is the ultimate priority for in-person shopping. There is a much greater emphasis on health, financial security, and the well-being of the one’s who are closest to us. With this, the retailers also cannot excel at customer representation without also having employee representation and caring for their well being. Keeping a sanitary environment is a good addition to an individual’s retail experience and one that we should continue to implement even when the pandemic is no longer around.
Customer experience leaders have a very important role to play during this time. They have been forced to abruptly adapt to new habits to benefit their customers as well as their business. We have seen an influx in business practices such as: self service, sanitization, and contactless delivery. Companies are listening to their customers and employees more than ever, willing to do whatever is best for the benefit of the people involved. These practices were very sudden and immediate, but yet sustainable for the future. The way that retail has handled this difficulty so efficiently, has been quite impressive.
The shift in focus to customer (as well as employee) needs and health may have indeed been a great product of this terrible time. Our retail future will come back stronger than ever and these new found business practices won’t be going anywhere.