The COVID-19 pandemic created shifts and changes in retail that were experienced and felt around the world. There are now new ways for consumers to interact with retail that have really shaken the marketplace. The rise of digital commerce, online shopping, and online brand exposure are among them. They have made retailers globally face incredible challenges - store closures, being one of them.

Drawing on a common theme in Retail Revolution, consumers now have an increased focus on their expectations of retailing and service design. The idea of just being in a place to buy more stuff is not relevant anymore to consumers. According to Ron Thurston, VP of stores at INTERMIX, retailers have to be much better at the relationships, the followup, the connection, and the way that they sell to consumers, “there's a lot being written right now around… how we've assessed our own need for products and services.”

But as retail continues to shift, there’s several factors retailers need to consider moving forward. The conversation in retail and especially in luxury is becoming more of a one-to-one, or, even like a many-to-one. Fanny Damiette, in her role as Chief Marketing Officer at The Webster asks, “What happens now is that the customer has more say in what we do, or what we say, or what we focus on. They basically ask for more. They ask for more engagement from our side, to know what is our mission? What are you sending for exactly? What do you care about? What are your values?” There is a different relationship that's being established.

The need to change is also being forced upon traditional department stores. “The breakdown in the traditional department store and the lack of desire for younger, smarter people to want to sell and risk their money with the unknown, the department store, they get to look for different means of selling that product, describing their product,” according to founder and managing director of Jassin Consulting Group, Andrew Jassin.

Looking to the future, targeting young generations is crucial. It boils down to building trust and how retailers are demonstrating this commitment to youth. “Youth today are multifaceted and fluid in how they identify themselves, which gives retailers an opportunity to tap into their passions in unexpected ways,” says Emily Wiens, recent MPS Fashion Management graduate at Parsons School of Design. The easy access to online shopping and availability of social media is influencing the opinions of young consumers and providing more purchase options than ever before from various retailers. It is outdated and naive for retailers to believe that their products are enough to engage with young consumers.

As the industry continues to evolve, we could even see more aspects of home coming into the retail space as a way of creating that sense of safety, comfort and wellbeing that we associate with home, according to architect and author Donald Rattner. But as the pandemic progresses, the winners in the retail space will be the ones who adapt and evolve. Professionals throughout the industry can agree that change in the retail industry has been a long time coming and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated that change.