According to several business reports, 2022 will experience a lot of disruption in modes of business transactions due to several reasons. The holiday season is over, and business will resume with a full boom. However, the pandemic will pose several challenges for big and small businesses. A world economic meltdown has been predicted by experts due to the widespread pandemic.
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Furthermore, the global business supply chain is said to be affected in the coming months if the pandemic persists. This will place Nigerian retailers and small business owners in a tough spot. With so many covid-19 regulations in place, big supermarkets and malls around the country should be adopting a new normal way of transacting businesses.
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Provide Outlets
Creating a better retail experience will take a whole lot of innovations. Drawing inspiration from retail stores in the United States and Europe, leading retail stores are providing smaller outlets in neighbourhoods outside their physical venues so that customers can enjoy better retailing experiences in the new normal. Whether as a gadget trader, home appliances or packaged foods dealer, having outlets, like kiosks, outside your major domain is an innovative approach to bringing the retail stores to customers’ doorsteps.
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Create Delivery Options
In a pandemic-ridden world, it will be difficult for customers to want to visit malls, park their vehicles, walk inside, push a cart around, and wait in line to complete their purchases. The pandemic has forever changed shoppers’ experiences. The retail stores that will thrive in 2022, are those that create delivery options. Today’s shopper wants options — from the aforementioned BOPIS (buy online, pickup in-store) experience to self-checkout lanes, curbside pickup, free and fast shipping, convenient delivery, and more. For instance, you can create options where customers can call in or shop online a list of what they want, and it will be assembled and kept on standby for customers to pick them up.
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Accept Multiple Payments Methods
With the pandemic ravaging, the problem of having hard currency for long will seem impossible. In commercial banks today, there is also the problem of limiting the number of people in banking halls. I could remember how stranded I was in a commercial bank, due to the new covid-19 protocols that restricted five people into the banking hall. I had had to wait over an hour to get to my turn, simply because I needed to get some amount of money to get a product. Most times, retail stores don’t accept certain methods of payment. In this present situation of rising covid-19 restrictions, retailers should adopt multiple payment options such as mobile money transfer, POS and buy now, pay later services. Apps like Palmcredit and Fairmoney are good buy now, pay later providers.
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Transform As Financial Companies
In 2022, the big winners in the retail industry will be those that will offer financial services or customers with financial services providers. This service will be an extension of their retail function of buying and selling consumer goods. Blending retail with financial services will be the new normal. By leveraging technology and large data in their possession, they can study consumer behaviour and help cover the unbanked or their underserved customers. Furthermore, with digital wallets and other banking services, customers will have their CFO in their back pocket one-stop shop for all of their financial needs while still being connected into the retailers’ broader business suite.
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This article was first published on 13th January 2022
nnaemeka-emmanuel
Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.
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