Business

How Retail Business has changed due to Covid-19

Since the covid-19 pandemic onset, businesses have changed their operations, with some closing temporarily or permanently. In the U.S, nearly 72 842 businesses have closed permanently (Bender, 2020). However, some businesses, particularly the retail stores, found ways of adapting to the pandemic to keep their businesses afloat. The pandemic has changed how retail businesses operate in terms of selling and buying, sales model, and products and content production. Many of these changes have positively impacted companies, and they are likely to stick to them even when the world returns to pre-covid-19 normalcy. This paper focuses on how specific companies that serve as examples have migrated to digital transactions, business to customer service instead of business to business, and started making their content in the entertainment industry.

The pandemic has seen many retail businesses migrating to digital transactions (Meyer, 2020). An example of such a company is a retail appliance store known as Atlantic Appliance. After the breakout of covid-19, the company saw a drastic reduction in sales as it was doing its transactions offline. The company had to keep its customers safe, and that forced them to shift into selling through the phone and the company’s website as it also needed to maintain its customers. Joey Vukaj, in an interview with Leahy (2020), said that even after the pandemic is over, his company will continue doing online transactions as they have seen it making profits.

Another area that has changed is the sales models of retail businesses. The pandemic has affected businesses in the supply chain more than any other area (Emarketer, 2020). Many small business customers ceased to operate; thus, it was easier to reach individual customers. One example of a business that changed to the customer sales model is Les Crème, a skincare company based in San Diego. Due to the closure of the majority of private businesses that Les Crème used to sell its products, it began to focus on the business’s B2C side (Leahy, 2020). The company used the emailing method, sending emails to individual customers who saw the company making significant positive progress. The company is likely to stick to this kind of sales model even after business normalcy returns.

Lastly, in the entertainment industry, the largest impact was the closure of production studios and sites (Yahoo News, 2020). Those who worked for entertainment companies lost their jobs. It forced them to start their retail production sites online and produce their content. An example is Alix Lynx, who is a producer, model, and digital media entrepreneur. After the staying home measure, Alix started making her content and focused on driving her fans entertained on social media platforms. In an interview, she said the pandemic had brought a golden opportunity for performers to build their presence online rather than working for another person (Leahy, 2020). According to her, building her online presence is more advantageous than being employed. She also talks of other people she knows in the industry who have started entertaining fans online.

Many of the changes that retail businesses have gone through have impacted them positively. Such businesses are likely to adapt to the changes even after returning to normalcy. Therefore, it means that the pandemic has not just brought negative effects but also positive effects as it challenged businesses on how they could have stayed afloat and made profits.

References

Bender, A. (2020, July 29). COVID-19 claims nearly 73,000 US businesses, with no end in sight. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2020/07/29/covid-19-claims-nearly-73000-us-businesses-with-no-end-in-sight/#4ec83f785d73

Emarketer. (2020, March 14). The biggest business impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Retrieved from https://www.emarketer.com/content/the-biggest-business-impacts-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-according-to-business-insider-intelligence

Leahy, M. E. (2020, June 10). How businesses have pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved from https://patch.com/new-york/yorktown-somers/how-businesses-have-pivoted-during-covid-19-pandemic

Meyer, S. (2020, July 28). Understanding the COVID-19 effect on ecommerce. Retrieved from https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/covid-19-ecommerce/

Yahoo News. (2020, April 16). COVID-19’s impact on the entertainment industry, 2020 – ResearchAndMarkets.com. Retrieved from https://www.yahoo.com/news/covid-19s-impact-entertainment-industry-114100033.html