From Bricks to Clicks

The people of this world have been barricaded in doors which effectively revolutionized the way we shop. Prior to Covid-19, there were still many companies hanging on to their bricks and mortar locations but due to the pandemic have been forcefully shoved by quarantine to online commerce. Technological advancements in retail will save the fashion industry but, we must embrace change. 

After interviewing Deloitte’s retired senior technology consulting partner Raymond Pineda about what it was like before and now during the pandemic, we are able to definitively see that some companies were reluctant and slow to make the transition to e-commerce but have literally been forced into it. Prior to the pandemic, large corporations wanted to keep that in-person feeling that made customers more likely to come back and see that heart-melting sales person who knew everything about their sophisticated shopping needs. Though an extremely effective method to retain customers, when doors shut and the population became scared of catching one of the deadliest viruses known to man, that in-person contact was set ablaze. Today, companies must be practical on how to retain customers through online stores and other means.

So what can we expect from our discerning, thriving retailers? Well, online of course. Without a doubt, e-commerce solutions have had to upgrade their functionality with virtual sales being the best way to get customers back in-store. Raymond Pineda suggests “The shift to e-commerce already happened but Covid-19 has expedited the shift to e-commerce and omni-channel purchasing (purchases through social media, the phone, news channel, TV, websites, or in-store)”.

Mr. Pineda suggests that what is needed from e-commerce is “trust in privacy and security factors with online stores, getting their act together as far as supply chain is concerned, frictionless returns so when someone returns something it needs to be painless”. He also recommends that when products are sold, to make sure the transaction goes smoothly for the customer. 

Pineda gave an example of his wife’s online purchasing order that occurred this year from a large fashion retailer that effectively stopped her from ever using the retailer again. In his words,   “She purchased a few hundred dollars worth of clothing and was charged twice for taxes and then was sent the wrong size of shoes. She decided that the headache of calling to sort out the mess wasn’t worth her shopping there again. The company did let her keep the shoes but at the same time they were unusable because of the size. They also only refunded part of the taxes so effectively she was still overcharged”. He then boldly stated, “They just lost thousands of dollars of future sales from my wife!”. Though he shouted, he grinned kindly. 

It’s safe to say that Raymond Pineda is at the top of the list for effective technology-based solutions because he was a partner for 24 years at Deloitte. Deloitte is the largest consulting company in Canada and in the world. Raymond Pineda was the head of the information management and analytics practice. When I interviewed Pineda, he sat comfortably in his luxurious home office, situated in the famous Toronto Distillery District, on a leather chair behind a darkly stained wooden desk. 

As for the few bricks and mortar locations that did not shut their doors for good this past year due to the pandemic, Pineda suggests that their entire layouts will have to be altered. The few survivors will have to accommodate the post-pandemic foot traffic by creating spaces that allow for social distancing and modify the amount of human interaction with contactless payment systems. 

He also informed me of a humanoid robot named Pepper. The humanoid is made in Japan and was launched on June 5th, 2014. “This particular robot could potentially replace the in-store human employee completely,” Raymond suggests. Pepper is able to understand facial expressions and basic human emotions which allows it to provide exceptional customer service to in-store customers. Pepper can also stock shelves, pick up merchandise for customers from dressing rooms, process orders and effectively help reduce the spread of the virus by being sanitized. The scary reality of Pepper is that the humanoid only cost $1600.  A minimum-wage retail employee in Canada, as of 2020, makes $14.25. Pepper doesn’t need to be paid hourly and will only require the initial investment, plus electricity.

Another trend we might see more of in the next few years is augmented reality online shopping experiences. Pineda described the idea of shopping virtually with a photo.  Essentially, the customer would take a picture of themselves and upload the image onto the retailer’s website. Then the customer could try on different clothing to see what their body would look like. Personally, I have seen this same type of idea with makeup in different online makeup stores as well as apps that allow you to change hair colour but not with clothing. 

In all, our world will always be evolving and growing with new and more effective ways to shop. Many retailers might not have wanted to switch to online and held on to that ideal of human-to-human contact which effectively lead to them closing their doors for good. Pineda states, “Even prior to the pandemic offline apparel stores were shrinking each year and then sales plummeted in April 2020 due to the pandemic”. Even though so many retail store closures have happened and the change in retail was shoved down our throats due to the global pandemic, we must look forward. Retail will never stop and fashion will exist in different forms regardless if it’s from bricks to clicks.