PERSPECTIVES

Maybe you heard it. 

We heard this weekend a resounding sigh of relief from around the world. The election has ended. 

For all of us, this passage invites fresh optimism, a fresh resilience, and a fresh commitment to the important things in life.

As retailers, one of those important things is your operation. 

The situation suggests that now is the perfect time to reexamine your competitive edge.

Is 2020 continuing to wear you down? No surprise. And no shame in that!

Retailers are among the most optimistic folks we know. But the relentlessness of the disruptions and in some cases tragedies of the three pandemics – the virus, the economic meltdown, and the civil unrest – followed by the wildfires in the West and the hurricanes in the Southeast, now compounded by the uncertainties of national election. Oh, and then there's the impending flu season. And... And...

It IS a lot. And it feels as if there is no relief in sight. But maybe there is. 
 

For retailers, the uncertainties caused by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are unrelenting. 

• "'It seems that social distancing mandates won’t be the only thing keeping crowds down at businesses moving forward,' said Ted Rossman, industry analyst at CreditCards.com. 'A significant number of Americans plan to stay away on their own accord.'” ¹

So, what should we do with this additional "found time," waiting for the customers? That's a question we CAN answer!

As you are sorting out how best to reopen, we encourage you to be bold about embracing technology. Not just a POS system upgrade with better e-commerce capability. There's much more that warrants your attention. 

There's a whole alphabet of resources out there, already being embraced by many: ML (machine learning); AI (artificial intelligence); AR (augmented reality), QR (Quick Response matrix barcodes). All enabling chatbots, robots, digital displays and much else to become "smarter" and more applicable. 

Don't you feel that we're in a period of heightened uncertainty? 

Whether it's the economy, or unemployment, or grocery prices, or sports resuming, or the weather, or racial tensions, or the costs  of everything, or the questions coming at us from family and employees that we cannot answer, everything seems uncertain, doesn't it? And there is no end in sight.

But...we as retailers can be leaders in our communities and in our  daily lives. We have the opportunity to tamp down some of those uncertainties.

Look at this sign a local merchant posted.