Yesterday’s canine champion is called “Ocado”. According to them, and as a consequence of the pandemic, “the grocery landscape is changing for good”. Let’s face it – the grocery business has been one of the big winners of the pandemic. If you cannot grab market share and make money (or in Ocados case – reduce your losses from £214.5m to £44m) in this environment then you have a problem.
However, once this pandemic finally subsides, there is a huge wall of money waiting to buy a new pair of dancin’ pants, to meet family and friends again, to feast and get drunk. Humans need social interaction.
Once the restaurants and bars reopen, that expenditure will be directed away from the grocers. Once the offices reopen, home working will lose its appeal. Once we start to build back better, sustainability and the environment will top the bill. Once we return to our town centres, we will bemoan the number of vacant units and the lack of choice. What does that mean for home deliveries? Will we react again? There is no doubt that the pandemic has accelerated the digitalisation of our lives …. but these are extraordinary times. All landscapes are evolving and change can be expected…..even for our top dog.
By Robert Millington