Retail: the impact of coronavirus on the future of this sector


The coronavirus has transformed the way people shop. While this is mostly a lot of us are unable to go out at the moment, experts have predicted that the future of the retail industry will never be the same. A series of articles will explore the changes that will occur.

Consumer behaviour and prices
An economic recession is definitely underway and this will bring about a rise in price sensitivity. This pandemic has resulted in many people losing their jobs unexpectedly and this will intensify the trend of being conscious about charges among clients. The senior vice president of cross-border retail at Kantar Consulting, David Marcotte advanced, “We went into this with a sense of price ignorance; we didn’t care about prices at all. And now we’re coming out the other side”.

He states that the impact of price sensitivity will be particularly felt by the restaurant industry. Dining outlets were the biggest beneficiary of a blissful price passivity. However, they are now more at risk. Marcotte argues that dining will come back, but fitfully. It will not meet with an immediate success. Menu prices will have to decrease and owners will have a quite thin profit margin. He says, “There are going to be considerably fewer restaurants in the future”.


People will care more about prices

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