Delve podcast: New Normal: How the Pandemic Changed Shopping Forever with Mehmet Gumus

How we shop today certainly isn’t the same as it was before March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic launched a swift if unsteady shift in shopping habits—and retailers quickly learned that adaptation was essential to survival. Today, a hybrid retail approach is leading the way to increased sales.

In episode 4 of the second season of Delve’s The "New Normal" podcast series, Professor Mehmet Gumus from the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University joins journalist Dave Kaufman to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic helped to speed up the shift in how people shop and consume, what the future of brick-and-mortar establishments could look like, and the increasing role of omnichannel shopping in the everyday shopping experience of the consumer.

“The question is,” says Gumus, “is this going to create a permanent shift in customers’ preferences in terms of changing their shopping experience? In the short-term or long-term we'll be going through a re-adaptation and re-normalization process.”

For more insights, listen to the full interview with Professor Gumus on the Delve podcast and read the research paper: Online-Exclusive or Hybrid? Channel Merchandising Strategies for Ship-to-Store Implementation

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Founded in 2019, Delve is the official thought leadership publication of McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management. Under the direction of Professor Saku Mantere, inaugural Editor-in-Chief, Delve features the latest in management thinking that stretches perspectives, sparks new ideas, and brings clarity to decision-makers at all levels and across sectors.