Shopping will no longer require multiple trips to the store: this is already a reality in some large cities around the world. Almost anything imaginable can be delivered to your door via mobile apps and e-commerce sites, often within hours. Small retail businesses are also changing rapidly.
Due to the many challenges of the epidemic, physical stores were forced to adapt quickly. Brick-and-mortar retailers had previously relied on foot traffic and in-store customers. Suddenly they needed to understand how to connect even remotely with consumers who were at home or otherwise remotely.
Now, as parts of the world recover from the pandemic (or adapt to a less catastrophic “new normal”), self-driving cars are on the way. And they could allow companies, even in retail (small neighborhood shops) to build even more sustainable, efficient and long-lasting businesses, giving them new ways to connect with customers.
The retail trade looking forward to the future
Retailers are figuring out how to invest in upgrading stores. All the energy is concentrated on distribution. The target? Bringing goods closer to the customer so that he can collect them or have them delivered as conveniently as possible.
We are seeing these changes happening right now. Fast food restaurants are testing drive-through kiosks, and entire storefronts are opening to allow circulation if the weather is nice. Customers and delivery personnel are picking up orders on the sidewalk or through specially installed takeaway windows.
Customers who still want to touch the items can still do so, albeit to a lesser extent, and are encouraged to search for additional stock on the store's website. “The idea of super-dense interior spaces is no longer attractive,” he says Zachary Colbert, professor of architecture at Carleton University.
How will these autonomous vehicle-driven trends make it easier for customers to have new and more affordable retail experiences? Self-driving companies are already testing pilot deliveries in several major American cities. Whether it's a small independent shop filling orders to be sent independently, or a customer who requires a self-driving vehicle to take them shopping downtown without worrying about parking, stores will benefit. On both fronts: both e-commerce and in-store purchases.
Retail architecture is also evolving
To take full advantage of these changes, retailers will also need to consider how to redesign the physical layout of their stores inside and out, from the back closet to the checkout, showroom and even sidewalk space. Will they still need a lot of parking if most of the goods are distributed as deliveries, express collections or ferried by autonomous vehicles?
One thing is certain: the commercial real estate market is also set to undergo major transformations.
Even before the pandemic, marketers were under pressure to transition in-store brand experiences to the world of e-commerce, from improved online user experiences to streamlined processes for pickup and delivery. This trend has only accelerated in the last year and a half. The overall square footage of retail stores will reduce. Big-box retailers are changing their footprint, and many of them are downsizing.
How will the store spaces change?
According to Dr. Gurram Gopal, professor of industrial engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, there will be major conversions. Many shops closed retail spaces and vacant commercial spaces will be converted into “mini distribution centers” for large and small businesses.
If you order something through your favorite e-commerce site today, it will most likely be transported from a huge warehouse from the outskirts of the city. But, Gopal wonders, what if you could get that delivery even faster from a smaller distribution center closer to home?
Such efficiency would not only help the consumer, but also the environment by reducing the energy spent transporting goods over a greater distance.
This idea can be further reinforced by autonomous driving, allowing even the on-board delivery staff to focus on sorting and preparing goods for delivery, rather than driving large vans, always in a hurry singing and carrying the cross.
Let's take it one step further: What if that smaller neighborhood distribution center a couple of blocks from our house also had products from the neighborhood's small businesses in inventory? A Mini Amazon local. What if it sold its limited inventory early? Everything from gourmet baked goods to artisanal clothing could be sold this way. Ordering would take place via a smartphone app, so space previously allocated for cash registers would become a packing and picking area. “The layout changes to allow people to pick up and leave easily,” Gopal says. In this way, the neighborhood shop finds a role again. The community and the shops support each other. The shop becomes the connection. It will be a symbiosis.
Before the pandemic, store rooms took up up to 80% of a store: 20% was the warehouse, or back room. Post-pandemic, this 80-20 ratio could change, even reverse, in retail.
If or when it does, we will be able to rely on autonomous vehicles that will help retailers of all sizes carry goods from shop windows and fulfillment centers to their customers.
