EDITORIAL How leading retailers are continuing to adapt to the effects of Covid-19

In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter we’re reporting as UK retailers continue to adapt to the later effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on their businesses. For while the latest figures from the BRC and Sensormatic suggest that shoppers were starting to return to stores in May, footfall is still below the level it was two years earlier. And it seems likely that shoppers who do want to return are doing so carefully. 

Retailers have responded with new ways of using their retail estates. Desigual, for example, is using mobile checkout in its stores. Provider MishiPay says that its research found many shoppers would now prefer not to queue in a store, post-Covid. 

Mulberry, meanwhile, turned its stores into online warehouses during lockdown thanks to Google Cloud technology that it used to build a single view of its stock – and of its customers. Its online sales were boosted as a result, although that could not mitigate for the effect of store closures. 

And in today’s guest comment, Tim Bond of the DMA has the lowdown on the new post-Covid consumer trends that retail brands should note as they look to serve them in more relevant ways.

Elsewhere, we report as Amazon sets a midsummer date for its annual Prime Day event. We consider how the event has widened well beyond the retailer’s own website, attracting shoppers who are looking for discounts more widely. 

And a new trade deal – with EEA members Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein – promises ecommerce benefits for UK exporters, according to the Department for International Trade.