Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Lyndsey W. | Delivered April 15, 2020

Retail, Digital Transformation and COVID-19

Goals

To understand how retail, delivery and brick-and-mortar may respond to COVID-19 and its physical and economic constraints.

Early Findings

Some early trends are an increase in mobile wallet payments, while of course anything to do with remote working or video conferencing has risen dramatically since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Experts believe that the pandemic has effectively fast-tracked digital transformation in business. 
Retail, of course, is a big part of this. They have had to move to digital tools to support marketing and the business. For example, fashion is now producing 360-degree lookbooks. Designers are using digital prototyping instead when their supply chain is unable to deliver materials for sampling.
With lockdowns affecting supply chains, digital tools become more important than ever, driving efficiency and collaboration. Furthermore, if one supplier is subject to lockdown, digital tools allow for sourcing new suppliers in unrestricted areas.
Experts predict "bottom of the market" retail brands will suffer most, as people will turn to more discerning purchasing patterns and "want something meaningful" when they do buy. This will signal an increasing adoption of made-to-order items, especially as digital tools increase their efficiency and lower their cost. One expert predicts that COVID-19 will spur 20-25% of overall production to be made-to-order pieces.
 IDC predicts, "the ability to adapt responsively to product, workforce, partner, and operations needs will separate the winners and losers during the COVID-19 crisis."
For logistics, there is the possibility that COVID-19 could further open the door for driverless deliveries.
Air transport has suffered and could signal a trickle back to ocean-based shipments. 