AN ASSIGNMENT OF RETAIL MANAGEMENT ON THE TOPIC OF SUPPOSE YOU

ARE THE OWNER OF RETAIL BUSINESS HOW WE CAN MAKE PROFIT DURING
THIS PANDEMIC

Submitted by
Prashant Koirala

Submitted To
Rudra Shah

Green Peace Lincoln College, Itahari

The retail sector is of paramount importance across OECD countries. It operates as a gateway to
consumers from upstream sectors, accounts for almost 5% of GDP, and employs about 1 in 12
workers. COVID-19 has dramatically disrupted the sector, with the shock differing massively
between brick-and-mortar versus online shops, essential versus non-essential stores, and small
versus large retailers.

Five policy measures that countries need to take now for the benefit of firms, workers and
customers to shield the retail sector from the effects of the crisis and enhance its resilience are as
follows:

 Ensure that liquidity assistance schemes are accessible to retail firms, irrespective of
their size.
 Help essential retailers deal with labour supply shortages, in particular by smoothing
demand-supply matching for retail jobs and providing guidance on health and safety
standards.
 Support retail firms to implement social distancing measures.
 Ensure that competition in the sector remains sufficient in the aftermath of the crisis.
 Increase retail firms’ resilience by diversifying their sales channels, in particular by
helping small brick-and-mortar retailers go online.

The importance and specificities of the retail sector

The mitigation measures aimed at slowing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic taken
over the past few months have directly affected the supply, demand and daily operations of the
retail sector. The retail sector includes all resale activities of new and used goods (not including
motor vehicles and motorcycles) mainly to the general public for personal or household
consumption or use.

The overall impact of retailing is large, due to a number of factors. The retail sector is an
economic heavyweight: on average across OECD economies, about 1 in 12 workers are
employed in retail, and the sector accounts for almost 5% of GDP. Moreover, it mainly serves
final demand, and thus occupies an important position in value chains both as a provider to
households and as an outlet for upstream sectors. It also often complements activities in other
hard-hit sectors, e.g. tourism. In addition, the retail sector is very labour intensive, so any
disruptions have disproportionate employment consequences. The sector also relies on low-wage
and part-time, on-call and gig workers that are not well-covered by traditional social protection
measures, which further strengthens the social consequences of the crisis in this sector.

To make profit, in this pandemic situation as a retailer i would like to provide following facilities
to my consumer and make them aware about the safety of may product:

1. Delivery Service

While many people are afraid to leave their homes or follow the local government’s advisory to
stay inside the house, senior citizens and immunocompromised individuals are on high alert. All
with a single purpose —to keep themselves safe. That naturally has boosted on-demand delivery
service.

2. E-commerce

Pandemic has been a major blow to physical retail stores worldwide. That compelled many
retailers to explore a robust alternate option (eCommerce platform). 2021 will accelerate
eCommerce to even higher levels that alternatively allow many business aspirants to start a
business online and offline.This is evident because US and Canadian eCommerce orders reported
129% year-over-year growth last year by April (2020) while 146% overall online retail orders.

3. Workplace flexibility

With more and more workplaces shifted to remote work structures in order to remain productive
while respecting physical distancing, there could be an increased expectation for flexibility and
support of working from home from all levels of the organization. In addition, in order to meet
the needs of an increased demand for home delivery, there will likely be an increase in the need
for part-time workers.

4. Buyer, seller or survivor

Undeniably, the pressure on retailers is immense and there will be changes resulting from
COVID-19, but change doesn't have to be negative—it just needs to be strategic.

It starts with deciding if we are a buyer, seller, or survivor. Are we in a position to buy more
assets – be it product, technology, or even additional companies to grow our business? If so, then
we need to carefully plan for these transactions. Does it make more sense for us to start the
process of selling our business, if our projections show us running out of cash and options? If so,
we need to plan on how to maximize our value and minimize the disruption to all stakeholders.
Or, are we somewhere in between and able to make the necessary adaptions to survive the crisis
and come out the other end? If so, then we need to think about how this post-pandemic version
of our business compares to the pre-pandemic shopping experience that our customers expect.

Either way, being proactive in managing our business in these challenging times is critical.
Doing nothing is not an option.

Some more ways how retail business can survive and thrive through COVID-19 are
properly mentioned below:

1. Organizational agility was once desirable, but is now central to business survival.
2. Digitalization should not be seen as an acceptable solution to a problem, but rather
grounds to change the business model creatively for the better.
3. Cooperation with previously unlikely partners proffers a more effective means to
generate collective new gains.
The Covid-19 pandemic is primarily a global health crisis, but it has had vast economic and
social repercussions. Even with certain economies slowly and cautiously reopening, the
combined effect of the pandemic and the necessary mitigation measures, such as prolonged
lockdown and physical distancing, has led to a global recession largely because of the rare twin
supply-demand shock.

The twin shock caused by the outbreak has important implications for business. First, the supply
shock reduces the economy’s ability to produce goods and services at a given price because of
the closure of non-essential industries and physical distancing measures. An industry’s reduced
capacity to produce goods, for example 60% of its pre-crisis output, contributes to the supply
shock.

The demand shock reduces the consumer’s ability to purchase goods and services at a given price
because of increased demand for healthcare-related products and a decrease in high-risk
activities, such as going to restaurants or travelling. Loss of income could also contribute to the
demand shock as this decreases the demand for purchase such as homes, cars and other
appliances.

This global crisis has forced economies to pause and has presented businesses with a unique
opportunity to use massive challenges to make meaningful change. It has amplified the
inconsistencies and inefficiencies of various systems under severe strain and has provided
businesses with a chance to capitalize on the unseen consequences; the silver lining. Based on
interactions, here are three ways businesses from the World Economic Forum`s New Champions
Community of forward-looking, high growth firms have weathered the current storm while
shaping their future resilience and profitability.

1. Combine speed and stability

Organizational agility is the ability of a company to quickly change or adapt in response to the
tumultuous and rapidly changing market. It encompasses two major dimensions: speed and
stability. With regards to the former, a business needs to be nimble and responsive in keeping
with the changing times. This includes being innovative and dynamic in its thinking and actions;
however, to ensure its sustained success and the ability to scale up operations, there needs to be a
set of core elements. Thus, the latter component of stability or the solid backbone becomes
crucial. This is the main element for retail business to achieve success in the current time.

2. Turn digitization into an advantage

In a survey conducted in 2015, 82% of the executives that responded agreed on a need to
transform digitally the way their firms source and manage labour but only 23% had devised and
implemented a strategy for it.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a historic implementation of digitization in ways
only imagined previously. Data suggests that in a matter of eight weeks, we have vaulted five
years in consumer and business digital adoption. The outbreak has led to structural shifts
including in customer preference of digital engagement and moving to remote working models
for employees, which are likely to remain even post-COVID.

3. Drive systemic change through cooperation

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a visceral reminder of how interconnected entire societies are
today. Despite the challenges, the pandemic has brought to light the importance of
multistakeholder collaboration and the need for systemic resilience. In order to successfully build
these components, the fabric of trust needs to be ingrained across seemingly diverse
stakeholders; and businesses are increasingly understanding this – be it trust in the various actors
in a supply chain or between the employees in the organization. Systemic cooperation will also
be key for business to regain the capacity to operate.

CONCLUSION:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic taken over the past few months have directly affected the
supply, demand and daily operations of the retail sector. The retail sector includes all resale
activities of new and used goods (not including motor vehicles and motorcycles) mainly to the
general public for personal or household consumption or use. This challenging time, people are
looking to retailers for preparedness. Through the uncertainty, the primary thing people want
from retailers is relevant and up-to-date information. Being there in these important moments
with useful information will help ensure you’re delivering the assistance your customers need
most. We’ve gone over the major concerns for retail, the possible impact they could have, and
the potential knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reference

https://fashionunited.com/news/business/keeping-customers-wait-in-line-can-cost-u-s-retailers-
up-to-100-billion-per-year/2021042339582
https://www.uschamber.com/co/start/strategy/coronavirus-successful-businesses

https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-first-quarter-sales-beat-expectations-2021-04-29/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jayadkisson/2021/06/09/the-uniform-public-expression-protection-
act-the-special-motion/?sh=34b8e840649a