Brick-and-mortar retail has been hit hard by Covid-19 the world over. People have stayed away from physical stores, opting for the safety of shopping from their own homes.
Although China’s containment of Covid-19 has seen physical retail recover better than in most countries it remains challenging to attract shoppers, as the height of the lockdown, Chinese consumers shopped online like never before.
Even with consumers returning to their normal lives again, the online shopping habit has largely continued with e-commerce-related innovations such as live-streaming, social commerce and community group buying proving sticky.
In China’s hyper-competitive marketplace, retailers need to have their best foot forward to ensure that they appeal to Chinese consumers. Part of this means ensuring consumers have tactile experiences that complement digital touch points. Taking the best of the physical world and cleverly integrating digital touch points enriches the shopping experience, creating personal, tailored experiences that stand out from other online and offline retailers.
Moving forward, retail will have to work more creatively to draw customers in with an experience that cannot be matched on other sales channels.
