Abstract
COVID-19 disrupted the retail and hospitality industries. Non-essential retailers were forced to close. Essential retailers had to invest in expanding the capacity of their delivery services. This chapter explores the impacts that COVID-19 has had on the retailing and hospitality industries in different national settings including the UK, U.S., France, Ireland, and India. There are two key points. The first is that retail services have been experiencing the impacts of disruptive innovation based on the development of digital retail models. COVID-19 has intensified this disruption leading to forced rapid adoption but also acted as a tipping point for the failure of retail stores and chains. Second, companies have responded to COVID-19 by furloughing employees, but also converting high street stores into dark stores or online fulfilment centres. The pandemic has also forced retailers to try to persuade landlords to adopt turnover-based rental models. A new geography of consumer behaviour and retailing is emerging which will alter the rhythms of cities. This includes the shift towards homeworking and the impacts this will have on retail geography combined with an increase in online consumption.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Living with Pandemics |
| Subtitle of host publication | People, Place and Policy |
| Editors | John R. Bryson, Lauren Andres, Aksel Ersoy, Louise Reardon |
| Place of Publication | Cheltenham |
| Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. |
| Chapter | 18 |
| Pages | 202-216 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781800373594 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781800373587 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Aug 2021 |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- Retail
- hospitality sector
- dark stores
- e-commerce
- furloughing
- turnover rental models
- homeworking
- consumption
Access to Document
- brysonj2021covid19
This is a draft chapter/article. The final version is available in Living with Pandemics: Places, People and Policy edited by by John R. Bryson (Editor), Lauren Andres (Editor), Aksel Ersoy (Editor), Louise Reardon (Editor), published in 2021, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800373594. The material cannot be used for any other purpose without further permission of the publisher, and is for private use only.