Karanovic & Partners held a webinar dedicated to the Future of Retail on 27 May 2020. The webinar is a part of the “Future of” series, where our colleagues and experts cover and discuss various industries and the possible impact the pandemic of COVID-19 will have on them. Retail industry found itself in a completely new setting after the outbreak, and our speakers tackled the numerous new challenges that arose in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Along with Senior Partner Rastko Petakovic, and KP Advisory Partner Boris Milosevic, speakers included Vladislav Lalic, Partner & CEO of Goodfaith Strategic Advisory and Nevena Martinovic, Communications Manager at Confluence Property Management.
Although the retail industry took a big hit, after the global economy was put on hold for two months, our speakers do not expect rapid and unexpected changes in the field. The online retail industry has shown some of its weaknesses during the lockdown, and it is certain that numerous changes will have to be made before it can take on brick and mortar stores.
“Retail is under pressure from changing consumer habits and subtle market forces, and has been in transformation for a number of years – even decades. More recently, consumer trends seem to be drifting away from massive outlets towards more premium downtown locations; online trade is throwing punches on the brick & mortar businesses, and all of them together are challenged at once in a combination of health and economic crisis. I think the panel was brave enough to bet on who the winners and losers are, and informed enough to give us hard numbers in support of those views”, said Senior Partner Rastko Petakovic.
However, as with everything COVID-19-related, it remains to be seen how retail stores will manage big losses, how will the economy recover, and ultimately how the market will respond.
You can view the recording of the event (in Serbian language) by following this link.
