COVID-19 Impact on Smart Retail in Information and Communication Technology Industry

Overview:
Outburst of one of the most deadly pandemic called Corona Virus disease which is termed as COVID-19 has engulfed whole earth with its severe causes and made world stand ground zero in context of movements of people and markets which resulted in brakes on cash flows and economies of the countries. This havoc of virus enforced governing bodies to introduce lockdowns and curfews in sight to slow down the virus from spreading rigorously until the vaccine are in existence. Lockdowns means temporary closing of marketplaces, manufacturing plants, offices apart from essentials such as medics, doctors and other daily needs. COVID-19 have negatively impacted many industries and sectors such as automotive, oil & gas, manufacturing, tourism, hospitality; on the other side it has also impacted optimistically on some sectors such as healthcare, smart retail industry and such others. Smart retail adoption rate has steeply increased owing to online purchase trends and contactless items delivery.
Earlier retail meant purchase of finished goods from shops; but now with online purchasing and innovative retailing, smart retail has been one of the finest growing sectors. Smart retail was growing at healthy pace even before this pandemic due to its features of fast and hassle free operations, since pandemic outburst adoption rate has seen steep rise in smart retail industry.
For instance,
Founder and CMO of IdealSpot, Bryan Eisenberg told, “We are busier than ever and want things faster and easier with less commitment. We want personalized experiences that account for our preferences and constraints. Retailers must track these trends and find ways to create remarkable customer experiences that save our customers their precious time”.
Due to lockdown situations many retail companies started offering products on online platforms as these are the only platform to generate business in lockdowns. Logically, majority of the customers worldwide are now purchasing from online portals hence adoption of smart retail is going to experience sharp rise.

Impact on Demand & Supply Chain:
Demand for smart retail is experiencing major growth mostly owing to lockdowns and social distancing norms by government bodies. Companies which were earlier using offline ways for retailing are now turning their way to digital operations. All of the business sectors worldwide have experienced these pandemic effects somewhat negatively; however few technologies such as smart retail could bring businesses back on track as it offers better safety and comfortable purchase for consumers. Smart retail can help the entities which are experiencing debts to no loss situation or lesser loss situation or marginal profit situation.
According to IT service firm Barquin, adoption rate for smart retail is rising, further they pointed out, "Although many retailers, especially small and medium-sized business, lack the commercial resources to finance more advanced BMS platforms or comprehensive integration, there is a growing consensus in the industry that stores must begin or continue to digitize with IoT-enabled devices and focus on offering customers superior shopping experiences to remain competitive and attract customers back in stores”.
Apart from pandemic situation, advancements in smart retail is also assisting the industry to gain higher demand, for instance purchasing finished goods via voice process; which is an artificial intelligence based smart retail which that will definitely ease the buying process and increase adoption rate. Following graphical representation shows what people usually buy using voice process.