Life has changed, and so has retail...
With the one year mark of the start of the pandemic (and multiple lockdowns) far behind us, our Project Director based in China, thought it would be the perfect opportunity to discuss how life - and retail - has changed.
One year! The world is so different after just one year…
My mum became a guru of “Pin Duo Duo” mobile APP, which I’d never imagine could happen before, given she would rather queue in the banks for more than one hour than using an ATM … Well, I’d prefer seeing her bargaining in the markets… and I’m slightly worried about her eyes and neck sometimes.
My 19-year-old niece, who grew up in the “digital environment”, is however changing in a different fashion: She has been “fed up” with “doing everything at home and online”. She and her besties, who used to be pure online shoppers, now become big fans of shopping malls. Their typical weekends would be a half day game of “room escape” or “role play in a detective scene”, then followed with a big team meal and hours of shopping at the neighbouring malls. Occasionally, she took her grandparents to the malls, clapping for their Bowling skill, and then taking them to various hotpot restaurants with always some mysterious coupons she got from various mobile APPs… BTW, her cosmetic used up much more quickly than last year.
My colleague Lifan bought her first Electric Car, enjoying the half-an-hour power charging leisure, which she wouldn’t think of bearing in her old fuelling up days in a petrol station.
And myself, seeing the wardrobe full of casual and sportswear now. Lots of “OL” (office lady) or even “smart casual” dresses have now been piled up deep in the corner – together with the high-heel boots, the last of their show time was nearly two years ago...
Min. 80 online meetings with my colleagues or clients around the globe over the past year… after all of these I genuinely feel my IELTs score could hit 8 now! And facing a camera feels more and more natural. Some virtual site visits via google street views from the “down under” of Tasmania to the very north of Ulaanbaatar have made my life easier, but also left me missing the fun of experiencing and savouring local atmosphere in a different market and culture.
If you are working in the retail related industry like me, a location analyst and retail trend observer, you’d be amazed by how much your life and work had evolved in the year of 2020.
Every March marks the end of a financial year in my company – Time to review the past and look forward. We looked at our own business as well as the retail industry.
What has happened in our life and ourselves, plays such big role in shaping the retail world! For this we have summarized some key changes we have observed in the retailing industry in mainland China - a slightly more serious 30-page report. Contact info@geolytix.co.uk for the edition!
Coco Lin, Project Director at Geolytix
Photo by Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash