Nobody can predict exactly how COVID-19 will reshape our lives in the years to come, but experienced observers of the retail sector say shopping will never be quite the same again.
With physical distancing rules in effect and an explosion in the number of digital orders, shopping habits across all demographics have changed dramatically in a matter of weeks, and opened the doors to widespread adoption of new technologies, suggest two industry watchers from KPMG, a global advisory firm.
"Consumers will need to start getting comfortable with a new way of buying," suggested Katie Bolla, a partner of KPMG's consumer and digital operations in Canada."A lot of the trends we are witnessing now were beginning to happen prior to the pandemic -- it's just that the pandemic has accelerated them."
Looking toward the future, Bolla and her colleague Kostya Polyakov, KPMG's national leader of consumer and retail, discussed some of their retail predictions with The Canadian Press.
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