Supported by Adobe
Summary
To borrow from the beautiful game’s vernacular, 2021 looks like it will be a game of four quarters. Perhaps this is a distortion, but the basic tenant is correct.
Retail, like much of the economy, has faced a tumultuous 12 months. Online channels have benefitted massively but there are question marks over whether this trend will continue once the stores reopen.
The ‘high street’ has also seen long established names disappearing, some to be saved as online brands, others disappearing completely. Much of this change is far more complicated than ‘just’ the rise of online.
Retail is constantly changing as customers behaviours change. The task for retailers is to plot a way forward, allowing for these changes and predicting the near future. Obviously, the subtext for this seismic shift has been lockdown.
Hopefully, we are now coming out of that cycle and this was the focus for a recent IMRG event with senior retailers.
This report, supported by our friends at Adobe, is a review of that event, as well as a review into demand and performance 12 months into the pandemic.