COVID-19, The Ideal Opportunity to Move into the Omni-Channel Retailing

Abstract

In today's environment it seems inevitable to start any conversation without reference to the COVID-19. Individuals have faced (many of them for the first time in their lives) the restriction of many of the activities they considered common and routine. Mostly, those that are done outside their homes or involve establishing close ties between people. Thus, drinking a cup of coffee, going to the gym, walking or shopping are done differently. Keeping safety distances, wearing masks and washing hands with hydroalcoholic gel regularly every time one enters, leaves or is in an enclosed place and the continuous outbreaks that occur largely discourage individuals from doing these activities at least as often as they did in the stage prior to COVID-19. The direct consequence is a negative effect on the economy of developed countries, since the tertiary sector (services) contributes most to their GDP.Also, the way of working has changed. Teleworking, without being really a new methodology, has been well received in some sectors that saw this discipline as something impossible or complicated. This is the case of education, real estate services or even the chemical industry. Therefore, the decrease in the thousands of daily trips from homes to workplaces is another element that negatively influences the income of companies such as transports and cafes, restaurants or food-trucks near the workplaces.So, it can be concluded that the COVID-19 has created a "new normal" that has changed the way of living and, consequently, consumers behavior. Whenever a crisis occurs, be it health,