If the current situation shows us anything it’s that people struggle without personal contact. At least we have phones, Skype etc and various forms of entertainment, digital or more traditional. But the fact remains that long before restrictions on movement are lifted, many of us will be going 'stir crazy' and will crave more human interaction.

In the short term we will all have to learn how to do things differently and from a retail perspective there will undoubtedly be an upsurge in online shopping as we scour the internet for DIY materials, gardening equipment or the means of indoor entertainment or fast food delivery. What we don't know is not only how long it will take before things return to normal, but indeed what 'normal' will be in a post Covid-19 world. We have all been surprised at the speed of enforced change but how quickly will things change back? Will people need to be encouraged back to physical retail outlets or will the long period of confinement mean a rapid return to the 'outdoor' life and perhaps paradoxically a surge to the welcoming environment of shopping malls and the human interaction they provide?

I'm sure psychologists will provide different responses as to how people will react to a long period of confinement and I'm equally sure we are about to hear about research conducted into the behaviour of released prisoners. The fact remains that there is no real equivalent of the current situation where almost everyone will have been incarcerated in their own home, possibly for an extended period. 

To a certain extent we are all in the dark and can only guess at what happens next, but it will be an opportunity and a challenge. What we do know is that shoppers will come back - and they may well come back in droves. Whether a return to the shopping mall is a short-term thing or represents a longer-term transformation in behaviour will depend very much on their shopping experience and the level of service they receive. There will be a (maybe brief) opportunity to excite people about the shopping experience again, to show them what they've missed. Don't forget, more and more people will have become used to shopping online in the intervening period and they will have experienced the advantages as well as the limitations of shopping from a keyboard. What they will have missed is the personal experience.

When you re-open your doors be sure you're ready for what will in effect be a new generation of shoppers seeking interaction and wanting to be 'entertained'. No distractions, no long queues and a welcoming environment.