Date: Wednesday 20 May 2020

Timing: 2pm to 2.45pm (GMT) | 3pm to 3.45pm (CET)

Moderator: Mark Beresford (Head of Retail Practice & Director at EDC London)‍

Panellists:

• Mark McMurtrie, Director and founder of Payment Consultancy Ltd
• Grégoire Toussaint, Director at EDC Paris
• Michel Yvon, Treasurer & Payment Expert at Décathlon International

The long-term social, economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 virus are still unknown. Virtually every retail outlet - except grocery stores and pharmacies - has closed their physical doors.  The implications of the pandemic on consumer behaviour, product demand, retail stores, logistics, service availability and payments are widespread and are expected to significantly impact the retail landscape.  Retail has made one giant leap toward digitalisation as consumers have quickly shifted from cash to contactless payments, relied more on home delivery of their groceries, and other essential goods and services. But how well prepared were merchants to support the new higher contactless transaction limits?  Retailers have seen the importance of having eCommerce storefronts in order to generate revenue and satisfy consumer demand. From entertainment through to buying toothpaste, people are changing what they’re buying, when, and how they make payment.

Streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+ are seeing gains in subscribers in the first quarter of 2020.  On the other hand, luxury brands are suffering on two fronts – in the West where many luxury stores have been forced to close and in the East.  Chinese consumers, seen the principal sales driver for many luxury brands, were impacted by the pandemic earlier in the year which has meant that spending on luxury items has taken a nosedive.

The crisis has led to higher levels of chargebacks and fraud attacks, catching some retailers unprepared. Might Covid-19 accelerate the move away from cards to bank account-based payments?

What does all this mean for retailing in the future, will the physical shop change forever and how and what will payment preferences be post-Covid-19? Has the crisis provided the catalyst needed for mobile wallets to take off? Is this evidence that all retailers need the ability to sell online and provide a ‘click and collect’ service? But do retailers have the payment systems and suppliers in place to support the new market and consumer demands? These questions and many other questions will be discussed in this fireside chat.

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