The reopening efforts for retail stores continues to bring in little traffic, both Florida and Texas are allowing nonessential stores to reopen. In Texas and Florida retail stores are able to operate at full capacity with responsible social distancing and sanitization protocols. This makes it possible for customers to physically go to stores but that doesn’t mean stores are back to their usual numbers of customers. With a 16.4 percent drop in sales during April, the climb to getting back to normal will be hard, and not all companies will make it. In Boca Raton Florida, Orin Rosenfeld of Rosenfeld Realty Advisor said “I strive to be a positive person, but I’m afraid the outlook could not be more negative for retail at this point, there’s no way these folks can hang on being closed so long.” As for online shopping, returns are a big pain for eCommerce even in the best of times, and now they have become even more troubling and complicated for retailers, with different stores having varying return policies due to the current pandemic. In the retail store Target, their return policy is that most unopened items sold in new condition and returned within 90 days can receive a refund or exchange. Some items sold by Target have a modified return policy noted on the receipt. Returns also get complicated when it comes to clothes at these times, for Macys their stores will begin taking returns as they re-open to walk-in traffic; stores offering curbside pick-up will not be able to take returns curbside at this time. For second hand retail clothing stores like Goodwill, they are reopening regionally in accordance with state and local safety guidance, with more than 80 percent of Goodwill stores now open. Precautions are being taken to ensure the health and safety of their guests and employees. Pharmacies are extra complicated these days due to most of the people going to them are sick looking to help their symptoms or are elderly and have underlying health problems. That is why online pharmacies are providing over-the-counter medicines due to shoppers not always being able to visit physical stores. For pharmacies like CVS they are offering free 1 to 2 day or same-day delivery with their orders.
56%: Of all apparel and shoes were returned, prior to the pandemic.
42%: Of retailers have paused their pick-up and return in-store services.
30: OTC medicines Cabinet offers with FDA-approved ingredients.
25%: Of all eCommerce purchases that are sent back on average, prior to the pandemic.
13: The number of stores that have reopened at Tampa Premium Outlets out of 110.
Author Bio: Blair Thomas has been a music producer, bouncer, screenwriter and for over a decade has been the proud Co-Founder of eMerchantBroker, the highest rated high risk merchant account processor in the country that offers the safest and cheapest financial consulting merchant account in the field. He has climbed in the Himalayas, survived a hurricane, and lived on a gold mine in the Yukon. He currently calls Thailand his home with a lifetime collection of his favorite books.
