COVID-19 Pandemic has cause retail sales to decline by about USD500 billion globally in 2020. The pandemic required temporary closure of many stores, weakened consumer demand and increased the costs for many retailers. Consumers have increasingly turned to e-commerce during the pandemic, with markets like South Korea and China recording strong increase. Ecommerce intermediaries, marketplaces, delivery platforms and social media services all play a role towards this growth.
All the above changes reiterate and confirmed that the retail industry is highly dynamic and evolutionary around the world. Gone are the days where retailers can operate their business based on their “whims and fancies” or “gut feelings” or by “trial and error”.
Today’s retail business is getting more and more sophisticated and extremely competitive and retailers need to learn, acquire and master the modern retail management business knowledge and blend the art and science into the management and operation of their business.