All our businesses have been hit hard by COVID-19 and Business Advisory firm KMPG have taken a look at how retail businesses have been impacted specifically. The firm indicate two phases which include an upswing to E-Commerce trade, particularly during lockdown.
Did you ever try to shop at Kmart during isolation and have to wait in a ‘waiting room’ before gaining admittance to the online store due to the huge amounts of traffic? This is an example of the increased demand for online shopping during the isolation period. Shopping patterns have changed due to differing financial situations as well as demand for different products. However, the sizeable increase in online spend was noticeable.
The second wave of predicted E-Commerce growth is happening as people are returning to their lives and restrictions have eased but more transactions are anticipated to stay online. We are positioning ourselves for recovery. The global leaders of the McKinsey Marketing & Sales Practice have cited 3 main lessons from recent downfalls that leaders can learn from:
Optimise for Lean
Historically speaking, resilient companies focused on ‘getting lean’ in a thoughtful and considered way before and during the downturns in 2001 and 2008–9. These businesses were better able to manage the downturn and came out the other side better than others.
Focus on new opportunities
Key take-outs from resilient companies were those that were able to look for strategic investments and advance new market opportunities.
Be bold and maintain a through-cycle growth mindset
Resilient companies increased their selling and budget during downturns while non resilient companies remained flat. This including includes investing in growth areas. Downturns can be an ideal time to re-evaluate your staffing requirements to ensure that they are the best fit for your business moving forward. If business activity levels are low, consider a temp employee model to ease back.
If you would like an audit of your current recruitment arrangements, please contact Janine and the team.
Kind Regards,
Janine, Amy & Natalie