Writing in PBM’s July/August issue, editor Paul Davies discussed the shape of the emerging ‘new normal’.
Another month on and another set of tentative steps forward. More businesses have reopened and, by the time this lands on your desk (or into you inbox), the pubs will have welcomed back their customers and hairdressers will be busy shearing off those unruly lockdown locks.
For the merchant sector, it remains an unsurprisingly mixed picture and still too soon for any definitive analysis. Though heavy on soundbites and rhetoric, the Prime Minister’s recent pledge to ‘Build, Build, Build’ our way back to recovery should offer significant hope. Of course, words have to be followed by action, and any planning revolution to facilitate a new build boom must also be supplemented by initiatives to drive a much-needed programme of repair and renovation.
Feedback from the merchant frontline, as showcased in the latest in our monthly trends monitor The Pulse, continues to suggest an underlying sense of optimism and confidence. Anecdotal evidence suggests that, since more fully reopening the gates, many merchants have indeed been flourishing. We await with interest the next round of BMBI figures, which will hopefully confirm an ongoing rebound from the flat-lining April data.
But of course, optimism cannot be unbridled. The news that Travis Perkins is to close 165 branches gives significant pause for thought, whilst any recovery has the potential to be decidedly uneven — local lockdowns, such as in Leicester, can quickly curtail the best laid plans whilst the knock-on effects for areas dominated by now struggling large employers and industries mean that hopes for a V-shaped upturn are precarious.
For the merchant industry, agility will be of vital importance. As a sector that is deservedly praised for its entrepreneurial verve yet can still face criticism for an intransigence to embrace change, finding the middle ground sweet spot will be a crucial challenge. Put another way, continuing to harness existing customer relationships through knowledge and expertise whilst rapidly identifying new opportunities and new methodologies is essential.
Digital transformation is a prime example. Whilst the industry has taken great strides in recent years, it must accelerate the pace even more. Lockdown has shown that an expansion of online shopping expected to take years has happened almost overnight, and the growing list of leading High Street names that will not be reopening their doors should serve as a stark warning.
And a technological revolution is not just limited to transactional ecommerce, but must encompass product data, digital marketing and improvements in back office systems — and used to better understand and respond to changing customer behaviour.
The crucial point is for such measures to enhance, and not replace, existing practices and business relationships. Above all, when the whole world has changed, what went before cannot be relied upon to return. So, to echo the words of the Prime Minister, it is incumbent on us all to learn the lessons and “build back better”.
“When the whole world has changed, what went before cannot be relied upon to return.”
Please note, as events are changing at such a rapid pace, it should be noted this column was written on July 3. Click here to see all the latest updates on the PBM website.
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