Talking Retail Grocery and product news for independent retailers
One of these surrounds the way people work in future. Will it be back to the office? Will we see a continuation of working from home? Or will some kind of hybrid model emerge from the ruins?
The Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) reckons hybrid working – some days at home and some in the office – is likely to be a common pattern in the immediate future at least.
Earlier in the year, a CIPD survey found 40% of employers expect more than half their workforce to work a minimum one day a week from home post-pandemic.
But a further 36% of employees said they could not do their job from home, so the picture is likely to be very mixed.
Such a scenario will mean c-stores in both residential neighbourhoods and city centres need to have a long, hard look at their business models, customer profiles and retail offer in general.
For those canny enough to make the necessary changes, it will open up myriad possibilities as they adapt to the needs of this new workforce and their shifting lifestyle patterns.
We could even see an exodus from the big cities, with more people moving to the countryside and coast in search of a better work-life balance.
The beauty of the independent sector, however, is its agility and ability to react quickly to changing situations.
While for the big multiples, this can be like turning round a supertanker, for indies it’s more akin to tacking a small yacht (albeit with a lot of hard graft required in pulling the right ropes and steadying the tiller).
It’s going to be fascinating to see how our sector reacts over the next couple of years, but I have no doubt it will continue to thrive.
David Shrimpton, Editor
