retail, commerce, grocery, COVID, COVID19, coronavirus
Gary E. Hawkins
Retail Response to COVID19: Innovation in ...

During my many years as a supermarket retailer I saw my share of panic buying related to natural disasters like blizzards and hurricanes. Like many, I lived through the 9/11 crisis and its impact. But I have never experienced anything like what we are currently going through.

I’ve talked with many people across the supply chain these past few days, from brand manufacturers to distributors to retailers. I have been in our local stores seeking supplies but also watching how retailers are responding to a never-before environment.

While healthcare workers are always thought of as the front lines in a pandemic like we are experiencing, it is just as true that the workers in supermarkets and drug stores are equally on the front lines. The commitment by people across the massive grocery industry to serve the people in their communities during this crisis is to be commended. They don’t have to be there - they can stay home like many others, taking care of their families, and self-quarantining. But these store workers are unselfishly putting themselves on the front line of the coronavirus battle, realizing that feeding and providing needed supplies for their communities is as important as the doctors and nurses caring for the ill.

When the current crisis abates - and it will - I believe the retail industry can step back to realize what it has accomplished….

Retail Response to COVID19: Innovation in Realtime

COVID19

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In Sixty-Six Days the World Can Change. (Can You Hear it Coming?)

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In Sixty-Six Days the World Can Change. (Can You Hear it Coming?)

Sixty-six days. About nine-and-half weeks.

That’s how long – on average – it takes to form a new habit, according to a highly-cited 2009 behavioral study.¹

Let that sink in. Especially as pandemic-driven shelter-in-place mandates are extended. And especially as we consider the present and future of new technologies, and especially voice assistance.

It was 23 January when the city of Wuhan was locked down in response to COVID-19.²

Nearly ten weeks later – 67 days, to exact, on 30 March – stores in Wuhan began to open. Nearly eleven weeks later – 76 days, on 8 April -- Wuhan residents are being allowed to leave the city if their smartphones show “green” on a special health app.³

Ask yourself what this may mean….

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Retail Response to COVID-19: Rising to the Challenge

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Retail Response to COVID-19: Rising to the Challenge

The supermarket industry is truly inspiring during the crisis caused by COVID-19. The workers across the supply chain - from those manufacturing needed products, to truckers and distributors, to the people stocking shelves and checking shoppers out - are on the frontlines of this battle. Everyone and every organization throughout the industry has stepped up to ensure that food and needed supplies continue to flow to shoppers in every community across the United States.

Speaking with retailers and others, many retailers are slowly recovering from the panic buying that has occurred in the first couple weeks of this crisis. Food and supplies are slowly being restocked, and retailers are wisely limiting purchase quantities to insure that the majority of shoppers are able to get needed products. 

The partnerships…

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A Retail Mindstep like None Before: The COVID-19 Crisis

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A Retail Mindstep like None Before: The COVID-19 Crisis

Mindsteps, a construct created by astronomer Gerald Hawkins (no relation) several decades ago, refer to irreversible shifts in thinking that have shaped humanity; things like the development of imagery, writing, mathematics, the printing press, television, and computers.

In similar fashion, retail mindsteps refer to key developments that have shaped the massive fast moving consumer goods retail industry, such as the self-service store, product scanning, and, more recently, artificial intelligence. The ever-faster growth of technology fueled innovation is hastening the pace of these retail mindsteps.

And now we have the Covid-19 crisis - a mindstep like none before - that is happening just as key exponential growth technologies are converging, driving even greater acceleration in tech-fueled transformation and disruption…

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Retail Response to COVID19: Innovation in Realtime

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Retail Response to COVID19: Innovation in Realtime

During my many years as a supermarket retailer I saw my share of panic buying related to natural disasters like blizzards and hurricanes. Like many, I lived through the 9/11 crisis and its impact. But I have never experienced anything like what we are currently going through.

I’ve talked with many people across the supply chain these past few days, from brand manufacturers to distributors to retailers. I have been in our local stores seeking supplies but also watching how retailers are responding to a never-before environment.

While healthcare workers are always thought of as the front lines in a pandemic like we are experiencing, it is just as true that the workers in supermarkets and drug stores are equally on the front lines. The commitment by people across the massive grocery industry to serve the people in their communities during this crisis is to be commended. They don’t have to be there - they can stay home like many others, taking care of their families, and self-quarantining. But these store workers are unselfishly putting themselves on the front line of the coronavirus battle, realizing that feeding and providing needed supplies for their communities is as important as the doctors and nurses caring for the ill.

When the current crisis abates - and it will - I believe the retail industry can step back to realize what it has accomplished….