Pandemic Panic and Retail Reconfiguration: Consumer and Supply Chain Responses to COVID- 19

Abstract

COVID-19 ignited a revolution in retail. Family and consumer sciences (FCS) professionals, including students of retail and consumer sciences, can 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 United States and the world recoil and enter a new era changed by the global pandemic. Consumers have experienced panic and product availability anxieties, especially in food and grocery products. Shelves have been devoid of toilet paper, antibacterial products, and flour. Online shopping, including delivery and store pickup, is the new reality, with online sales at full-assortment grocers up 325% for March 12 and 13 in the midst of the panic (Melton, 2020). Retailers, especially grocers, have scrambled to maintain inventory and boost employment to feed the population, while non grocery brick-and-mortar retailers closed their doors and lost revenue to pay employees, leases, and outstanding invoices. How long until familiar times return—or will they? Forging ahead and influencing the post-pandemic retail world presents an opportunity for FCS professionals and consumers.