In-person ‘retail therapy’ may be gone for good

Retail isn’t going back to normal, says a professor of marketing and psychological science.

For merchants, expecting a return to pre-pandemic business is not a strategy for success, says Eric Spangenberg, dean of the University of California, Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business.

Those who can innovate and put together the best alternatives to business as usual, he says, will be in the strongest position to capitalize on consumer demand moving forward.

The online sales that have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 crisis may replace trips to physical locations even after the lockdown orders lift. As long as shoppers and/or employees are wearing masks, people will be a bit tentative in actual stores, and depending on how long they continue to make purchases predominantly online, habits may change enough to permanently alter the retail landscape.

Here, Spangenberg discusses how coronavirus-induced shifts in shopping behavior will likely transform the retail industry:

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