The pandemic will have a lasting impact on the retail sector.

COVID-19 squeezed years of online sales growth into the past 18 months.

This is one of the retail trends the NPI research department curated for its clients.

“At NPI, we have to keep on top of all retail trends to best serve our clients who are launching health and wellness products in the U.S.,” said Mitch Gould, founder and CEO of Nutritional Products International, a global brand management firm based in Boca Raton, Fl.

Gould said the pandemic caused more upheaval in the retail industry than he had seen in his 30 years as a retail professional.

“The pandemic squeezed years of annual increases in online sales growth into 18 months,” he said. “Once people stopped shopping in person, they started buying everything online, even products that they used to always buy in a store.”

NPI’s research team identified the following trends being reported in the news:

  • Salesforce reported the following consumer shopping trends:
    • Retailers are investing more in the online shopping experience, including live chat, video, live streaming, and social shopping.
    • Retailers are developing new ways to get purchases to the consumers. Same-day delivery, in-store pickup, drive-through, and curbside pickup became the norm in 2020-2021, but delivery services, such as DoorDash and Grubhub, are expanding beyond food.
  • Financesonline.com reported similar trends:
    • Changes in consumer shopping habits will keep digital purchases a priority even when brick-and-mortar shopping bounces back. McKinsey reported that 60 percent of consumers plan to stay with their new shopping habits even after the pandemic.
    • Brick-and-mortar shoppers want to feel safe when they enter stores.

“There is no going back to the pre-pandemic selling strategy,” Gould said. “COVID-19 pushed retailers to expand their online presence faster than they had planned. As my team found, retailers need to continue to adapt to the new norm.”

For more information, visit Nutritional Products International online.

More on NPI and its Founder
Mitch Gould, Founder and CEO of NPI, who developed the “Evolution of Distribution” platform, also has represented icons from the sports and entertainment worlds such as Steven Seagal, Hulk Hogan, Ronnie Coleman, Roberto Clemente Jr., Chuck Liddell, and Wayne Gretzky.