Description
It has been more than two months since India has been in a state of lockdown, but the number of COVID-19 active cases have been increasing, the retail ecosystem suff ering. The Government of India has announced an economic stimulus package, which is yet to address the emergent issues faced by the retail industry.
With phase 4 of the lockdown opening up some segments of retail aside from essential services has come as relief for the retail industry. As restrictions on movement of people have been lifted to an extent, consumers can now go and shop – for both essential and nonessential products as per convenience and safety norms. However, with malls still not being given the green signal to open, the impact of the lockdown will be bad to severe on the two discretionary retail groups – fashion & lifestyle and consumer goods.
All in all, the retail sector stares at signifi cant challenges of lost sales totalling `2.44 lakh crore and 2.6 million jobs (in direct employment alone) as per an EY study.
Despite the bleak fi gures, there is hope. The May 2020 e-issue of IMAGES Retail brings its readers a detailed look into what brands and retailers are doing to cope with the pandemic and to keep the consumer sentiment positive. The cover story brings to you a look at major brands and how they are re-structuring and re-imagining concepts and strategies to cope up with the situation.
The issue discusses how Omnichannel is the need of the hour and how brands can take improve their operational limitations and look for opportunities that would help them in the long run –for example readjusting their product off erings or using technology to bringcustomer experience at par with the new normal.
In this Digital Edition, we bring our readers; research, reports, analysis, opinions, roadmaps, recommendations and solutions from the retail experts globally and India on how to deal with the current crisis.
Log on to our website, www.indiaretailing.com for more on the current crisis. We hope to keep bringing you relevant content to help preserve your organisations in these trying times.
