Professor Barbara Stewart shares a perspective on the challenges of the retail transformation. Earning a retailing and consumer science (RCS) degree at the University of Houston as an online student prepares students to transform the post-pandemic retail world.
The coronavirus pandemic has ignited a revolution in retail. Graduates of the University of Houston retailing and consumer science (RCS) program will be the change agents that create the post-pandemic retail future. Massive disruptions to traditional retail practices for both consumers and retailers will result in changed retail environments as the U.S. and the world recoil and enter a new era changed by the global COVID-19 crisis.
Consumers have experienced panic and product availability anxieties especially in food and grocery products. Shelves continue to be devoid of toilet paper and antibacterial products. Online shopping, including delivery and store pickup is the new reality, having nearly doubled from pre-March figures. Retailers, especially grocers, are scrambling to maintain inventory and boost employment to feed the population, while non-grocery bricks and mortar retailers are closing their doors losing revenues to pay employees, leases, and outstanding invoices - trying to remain solvent until better times return. But will they? Forging the post-pandemic retail world will be the opportunity for retailing and consumer science graduates.
New forms of online retail are exploding to meet demand. Consumer consumption and buying practices are changing and the U.S. government is stepping in to support retailers and consumers through loans and subsidies.
What will be the new normalcy? Consumers will always need products. This is the opportunity for rising RCS graduates, to shape the culture and operations of a dramatically disrupted retail world.