An epic rise of 42% was seen in digital payments in Indian Market, while contactless digital payments rose to 23% post lockdown amid Covid-19. Businesses have become smarter & have a clear view towards altering their short & long-term goals.

The Indian retail market scene has gone through many shifts and transformations in the last 30-40 years. From weekly bazaars of grandparents’ days to the nearby neighborhood mom-and-pop stores from our parent’s days the modern age, existential mall culture, the aperture, and scale of Indian Retail has been evolved & unfolded into many experiences.

Amid Covid-19, globally, we have seen a huge collapse & dissolution in retail markets & steep declining curves in revenues for many of the biggest retail giants. There has been a global retail meltdown & it will be fair to say that some of the sectors have borne permanent damages to the retail businesses such as convenience stores than many others. this has been the worst setback for the industry in a long time.

Many of the global players of the market have been seen exploring new investing & earning opportunities for them, by moving towards smart products points-of-sale innovation, merging the brick and mortar presence to a more digital presence. Let’s have a look towards the notable changes that may arrive & can be seen in Indian Retail in the coming months & years.

 

A Variegated Supply Chain

When Covid-19 assaulted the world, countries were forced to impose lockdown, bringing manufacturing and international commerce to a pulverized halt. Supply chains for many massive retail giants, in apparel, sports, electronics, automobiles, to name a few were the most smashed & impacted by this. Most of the retailers &best franchise are now seeking to phase out their international dependence and start exploring more local/Dometic supply chains to safeguard themselves from such disastrous backfalls shortly.

 

Gearing up of Digital E-Commerce And Contactless Payments

With social distancing norms in full play and strict restriction on public transportation modes, people have been forced to set-up to online shopping for needs ranging from daily essentials to medicines, to food and grocery store. With contamination being at an all-time high-graphed in India, a lot of people have begun to stick to digital payment methods for all kinds of needs from grocery stores to convenience stores. The first few months of the lockdown saw a hike in digital payments to 42% while there was another jump of about 23% in contactless digital payments.

 

Rise Of Re-Commerce

The used products market and re-commerce will see a huge bump in demand for primarily two reasons – lower investment in generating supply and economical products for the price-sensitive consumer of today. Some notable industries where re-commerce has seen a huge upward demand are two-wheelers, four-wheelers, furniture, and electronics.

 

Reconceptualized Pickup/Delivery Formats

Get away from those fun weekend mall trips, it’s modern-day brick-and-click shopping. The pandemic leads to an unrivaled shift in shopping needs & rituals. Those test-and-buy goods that were shopped from the stores themselves are nowadays ordered online. Several grocery stores have permanently created an online ordering ambiance such that food items or other grocery needs could be delivered at the doorsteps. Even in the automotive market customers have been continuously found asking for home test drives & home deliveries of their vehicles.

Keeping safety as the foremost overall services or money customers have been preferring home delivery for themselves as one of the best options, Convenience stores have been providing excellent service of home deliveries keeping safety & sanity in mind.

 

Customer Experience – The Great Counterbalance

The battle has now shifted to customer experience from pricing as with a lot of businesses losing the objective-based aspect of their offerings. Let’s take an example, take a segment of a two-wheeler servicing or home salon visits, in the same price ranges either you could be at a crowded service center/shop or an unsanitary salon or you could have opted for a home-based service. While the price is slightly marginally different, parameters such as safety, convenience, and prices have replaced ‘deals’, coupons and discounts.

 

New Business Aims

Businesses have become smarter & have a clear view towards altering their short & long-term goals. Some of the brands have been eyeing for geographical expansion either by inhabiting the best franchise, deferred expansion plans, and selecting the best franchise to invest in so that consolidation of stores can be done  by automation & cheering up focus on online or digital presence for themselves.