Why traditional retailers have the checkout blues
Cara Salvatore loves a local corner bodega in Brooklyn, its specialty food items, and the cashiers who work there. But the writer and online entrepreneur rarely goes there anymore because its aisles feel too narrow and cramped to maintain social distance from other people. Instead, Mx. Salvatore’s purchases happen online – for just about everything.
“I don’t love letting somebody else pick what produce I get,” Mx. Salvatore says. Even the writer’s parents in Maryland are grocery shopping online now, “which I never expected. They’re in their 70s!”
It’s a similar story in Tacoma, Washington, for Rick and Sarah Daniel, MBA graduates who are not working as they care for Mr. Daniel’s ailing parents. Men’s deodorant? A click away on Amazon Prime. Bulk household items from Costco? A monthly delivery via Instacart, an online delivery service. The only in-person shopping the couple still does is for fresh food.
The conundrum is the couch.
The Daniels want to get one so they don’t have to rely solely on their antique sofa from the 1800s that needs reupholstering. They’ve looked at new sofas online, but feel uncomfortable buying sight unseen, even with all the fancy 3D imaging on furniture websites. Yet they feel unsafe going into a store to sit on sofas. “We would prefer to wait and shop for that in person, so we can see and touch,” says Ms. Daniel.
Welcome to pandemic shopping 2020, where consumers constrained by health concerns and state and local restrictions on face-to-face commerce have turned most shopping into a sterile contactless experience. We’re still buying stuff, and when it comes to office chairs and web cameras we’re buying more than ever, thanks in part to federal stimulus dollars. And while that stimulus effect is fading, Christmas sales should provide a welcome boost to retailers.
But this year’s festive
