Raise your hand if you included the word “pandemic” in your 2020 business plan.  Yeah, me either.  I went from traveling 200,000 miles in 2019, to not getting on a plane for 18 months.  Today, my business is conducted via Zoom or Teams and an occasional, monthly business trip.  Quite the change.  Bye-bye Delta Diamond status!

At the retail level and now that the dust is starting to settle, does 2023 constitute a re-birth for your business?  It clearly will depend how you approach it and from what you learned managing through a pandemic.  Here are some items to consider:

Employees – Hard to attract; hard to keep motivated; and even harder to keep.  So, what can you do differently in 2023?  Get involved.  Gone are the days of hiring and letting employees sort things out.  Check in with them often.  Ask them what makes them excited to come to work.  Foster a work environment that helps separate your location from your competition.

Customer interaction – Customer service has become abysmal over the past few years and consumers have been paying a premium for this.  How do you make a customer feel special?  Honestly, the bar has been lowered here by so many retail establishments that your store can clearly standout by simply appreciating your customers.  Get to know their names; welcome them back; go beyond the polite hello and truly embrace them.

Operational Excellence – This is a big one in that the level of “disappointment” in the shopping experience has risen dramatically over the past few years.  Whether it is the cleanliness of the location (see lack of employees); or safety concerns such as lighting and sanitation; or the out-of-stocks due to supply issues; or the sticker shock for core items; the customer experience has been less than optimal.  At some point, the consumer gives up and goes elsewhere.

Expanded Services – I think we can all agree that those convenience store operators that had a significant foodservice presence in their locations did a disproportionate amount of incremental business than those stores that lacked options.  The industry has been talking about foodservice expansion for decades and those that heeded the call, benefitted.  Expanding your foodservice operations; establishing pick-up options; introducing delivery – either in-house or with third-party vendors; all position your locations to prosper not only in 2023 but beyond.

What the pandemic taught us, is that the paradigm shifts that normally take decades to make a strong foothold, were accelerated.  Consumer buying habits; employee management requirements; and supply chain issues all converged in one very complex assortment of change.  The world changed before one’s eyes.