BRT has waxed poetic about the slow-motion death of retail due to cost savings and efficiencies of doing business online. Now, with the advent of COVID-19, the acceleration of the death of retail goes prime time.
Microsoft announced today that it is closing all of its 83 Microsoft Store retail locations. The company says that will result in a charge of $450 million against its earnings for the second quarter of 2020. In an important way, what Microsoft is doing is a sign of what we will see in the future from a lot of retailers.
The shutdown has necessitated rapid learning by retailers about these trends and it looks like Microsoft, and many others, are listening. Consumers have figured out how to do all or nearly all their shopping online and retailers are figuring out how to do all or nearly all their selling online, too. Shopping by livestream, video appointments, chat and and other technologies have put convenience into consumers’ hands and facilitated sales while stores are closed. No one knows how much of these new habits will stick when the pandemic is over but it won’t be zero and stores have to adapt.
Yes indeed.
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