Assortment Planning During Covid-19

Assortment Planning During Covid-19 150 150 Scorpion Planogram

Retail spending is up, as reported by the Guardian, and rose 12 percent in May over the previous month. While this would appear to signal that retailers as a whole are doing well, Larry Elliott, the Guardian’s economics editor, points to a small but important distinction. Retail spending denotes the purchase of goods, either in person or online, and makes up a third of consumer spending, a larger category that includes services, such as hospitality. Some experts speculate shoppers may be foregoing services and focusing on products, such as investing in weights with money saved from a cancelled gym membership. 

What signal is the latest data sending?

Why do we bring this up? As we see it, a bump in the retail market suggests a number of things:

  • While there is less money circulating, shoppers have not sealed off their wallets
  • Consumer preferences have shifted towards a buying experience with limited in-person contact, which was to be expected

On June 15, a greater share of non-essential brick-and-mortar stores were permitted to reopen. Opening, however, doesn’t guarantee success, and a survey of retailers indicates they are