Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and implications

Imschloss, Monika; Schwemmle, Martin Article — Published Version Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and implications Journal of Business Economics Provided in Cooperation with: Springer Nature Suggested Citation: Imschloss, Monika; Schwemmle, Martin (2023) : Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and implications, Journal of Business Economics, ISSN 1861-8928, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, Vol. 94, Iss. 6, pp. 851-889, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-023-01189-x This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/318081 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ORIGINAL PAPER Journal of Business Economics (2024) 94:851–889 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-023-01189-x Abstract In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the retail landscape has undergone profound and enduring changes, necessitating a comprehensive examination of its implications for both consumers and retailers. This study provides a systematic analysis of emergent shifts in consumer behavior and the resulting changes in consumer value creation. The authors develop a conceptual framework encompassing five key dimensions that likely will reshape value creation in post-pandemic retailing: hyperfunctional shopping, holistic health, hybrid connectedness, conscious hedonism, and responsible consumption. The authors propose that consumers will prefer retailers that accomplish creating value based on these dimensions through next-level customer experiences rooted in inspiration and social interaction, novel technologies, and innovations in store concepts, services, or retail operations. Critical to successfully delivering next-level customer experiences in this new retail landscape is retailers’ engagement in collaborations—both within the industry and with external partners. Accounting for these developments, this study offers implications for retailing practice and provides a roadmap for future retailing research in five key areas pertaining to the management of responsible, health-related, and digital customer experiences, the management of collaborations for creating next-level customer experiences, and the effective monetization of the evolving dimensions of value creation. Keywords Pandemic · Covid-19 · Retailing · Value creation · Customer experience · Responsibility Accepted: 10 December 2023 / Published online: 28 December 2023 © The Author(s) 2023 Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and implications MonikaImschloss1· MartinSchwemmle2 Monika Imschloss [email protected] Martin Schwemmle [email protected] 1 Institute for Management & Organization, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C6.112, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany 2 The Future Company, Friedrich-Klausing-Str. 6b, 14469 Potsdam, Germany 1 3 M. Imschloss, M. Schwemmle JEL Classification L81 · M10 · M30 · O10 1 Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic has changed both consumer behavior and retail operations, with some of these changes potentially shaping a new normal for tomorrow’s retailing (Beckers et al. 2021; Brüggemann and Olbrich 2022; Gruntkowski and Martinez 2022; Roggeveen and Sethuraman 2020; Verhoef et al. 2022). To lower the spread of the virus, governments have issued regulations that affected retailers directly through forced shutdowns of stationary outlets and indirectly through social distancing requirements that changed consumers’ shopping behaviors (e.g., maintaining a physical distance from others, limiting personal contacts, and wearing masks or gloves; Bates 2020; CDC 2020; Kirk and Rifkin 2020). Initial research addressing the effects of Covid-19 has discussed instant reactions, for example, hoarding or coping activities observable during the early phase of the pandemic, an increased preference for products with authentic advertising messages, the acceleration of online retailing, and the growth of contactless touchpoints (Campbell et al. 2020; Kirk and Rifkin 2020; Park et al. 2022). Other research outlined pandemic-induced changes in consumer behavior with rather unclear consequences for retailers, such as consumers’ increased improvisation behavior (e.g., celebrating weddings under restrictions), the discovery of new talent (e.g., cooking or do-it-yourself activities), and the accelerated adoption of new technologies (Sheth 2020). Verhoef et al. (2022) provide an overview of conceptual and empirical research examining pandemic-related effects published in 2020 and 2021. Focusing on the implications of pandemic-related changes in consumer behavior for logistics and supply chains, Cai et al. (2023) summarize existing academic research on consumer behavior during the pandemic. After the World Health Organization declared the end to the global health emergency state of COVID-19 in May 2023, it is time to reflect on which of these changes might have enduring consequences for how retailers can create value for consumers. Our work ties in with previous research predicting the effects of the pandemic on consumer behavior and retailing (Cai et al. 2023; Verhoef et al. 2022) and adds to research that has examined sources of consumer value creation in pre-pandemic times, including digitalization and new technologies (Dekimpe 2020; Hoyer et al. 2020; Reinartz et al. 2019). Highlighting that the pandemic has accelerated the technology-powered transformation of the retailing landscape, Grewal et al. (2021) examine technology as a key enabler for retail strategies. Accordingly, we propose that while the pandemic acts as a catalyst for already ongoing developments in some domains, such as technology and digitalization, it also acts as a transformer for value creation in other domains rarely considered in pre-pandemic times. The Covid-19 pandemic as a catalyst and transformer requires a systematic reassessment of value creation in retailing with a focus on the long-term consequences of the pandemic from a retailing perspective. In particular, our conceptual examination aims to discuss how initial short-term adaptions will lead to sustained changes in consumer value creation. It develops answers to the following questions: 1 3 852 Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and… 1. How has the pandemic affected and redefined consumer value creation in retailing? Which dimensions of value creation will shape retailing in the new normal? 2. What are the strategic long-term implications of changes in consumer value creation for tomorrow’s retailing landscape and retailing research? In answering these research questions, our paper addresses the call to investigate the “long-term impact of the pandemic on consumer behavior and provide guidance on how retailers should cope with those changes” (Roggeveen and Sethuraman 2020, p. 169). In doing so, we make several contributions to research and practice. First, we provide a theory-based, structured, and systematic analysis of the many observable changes in consumer behavior that occurred during the pandemic. Specifically, we identify changes in consumer behavior in different areas corresponding to Maslow’s (1943) categories of human needs and categorize whether shifts in consumer behavior are grounded in promotion or prevention motivation applying the regulatory focus theory (Higgins 1997). Second, through our systematic analysis of changes in consumer behavior, we identify and conceptualize five dimensions of consumer value creation, which likely will reshape value creation in the new retailing landscape: hyperfunctional shopping, holistic health, hybrid connectedness, conscious hedonism, and responsible consumption. Third, our study highlights how retailers can gain a competitive advantage by catering to these five dimensions of value creation. In particular, we propose that retailers should create next-level customer experiences that are rooted in inspiration and social interaction, novel technologies, and innovations in store concepts, services, or retail operations. To put these activities into action, retailers need to establish new collaboration structures with other retailers and external partners. Fourth, we provide paths for further research, identifying five areas with corresponding research questions that especially address the management of responsible, health-related, or digital customer experiences, the role of collaborations for experience creation, and the effective monetization of the value-creation dimensions. Finally, with the retailing ecosystem constantly facing waves of disruption (Gielens 2022), it is important to note that the pandemic only constitutes one example of such a disruption. Accordingly, our conceptual examination provides a structured approach that might be applied to systematically examine how other or future crises can affect consumer behavior and value creation in the retailing landscape. The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. First, we develop a theoretical framework for systematically analyzing consumer behavior changes during the pandemic. Our framework structures changes within central areas of consumer behavior (Maslow 1943) and along their underlying promotionand prevention-based motivations (Higgins 1997). Using this framework, we identify and discuss five emerging dimensions of value creation in retailing and substantiate their plausibility with examples from publicly available data. We then elaborate on how retailers should act on these new dimensions of value creation and discuss implications for retail strategies in the new retailing landscape. We further present potential avenues for future research. Figure 1 summarizes our conceptual approach. 1 3 853 M. Imschloss, M. Schwemmle 2 Theoretical grounding and framework for conceptual analysis 2.1 Theoretical and methodological foundations To identify possible dimensions of consumer value creation in the new normal, we systematically analyze numerous changes in consumer behavior that occurred during the pandemic. Specifically, in line with qualitative data analysis procedures (Strauss and Corbin 1998; Glaser and Strauss 1967), we followed an inductive approach, as the aim of our investigation was to develop a new framework, rather than to test existing theory. In doing so, we switched between theory and data, resembling a mixed bottom-up/top-down approach. First, we engaged in an open, bottom-up search for studies on consumer behavior changes during the pandemic. In our iterative discussions, it became evident that the plethora of observed consumer behavior changes—such as in the domains of health, connection, and home—can be mapped onto the fundamental categories of human needs as proposed by Maslow (1943). According to this theoretical grounding, consumer (re-)actions are a result of consumers’ motivations to fulfill different needs pertaining to physiological drives, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Individuals can be motivated by only a few or all of the categories simultaneously (Maslow 1943). Maslow’s (1943) structure of needs thus served as a rationale for clustering our studies into areas of consumer behavior as they map onto fundamental needs that consumers strive to satisfy. Switching from data to theory at this point allowed us to ensure that our examination of consumer reactions covered all relevant areas of consumer needs and motivations. Corroborating the link between Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model and consumer behavior, previous research has relied on this theoretical account to substantiate the motivations for consumer behavior changes during the pandemic and used it as a foundation for structuring observed changes (Cai et al. 2023). Fig. 1 Conceptual framework 1 3 854 Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and… Second, our discussions revealed that consumers might display different behavioral approaches when pursuing the fulfillment of the same need. To account for this observation and to further differentiate consumer responses during the pandemic, we integrated Higgins (1997) regulatory focus theory. Specifically, regulatory focus theory posits that consumers seek end states that either deal with aspirations, advancement, growth, and accomplishments (through a promotion focus) or with responsibilities, safety, and protection (through a prevention focus). A promotion focus is usually associated with behaviors that seek to realize positive outcomes and gains, whereas a prevention focus is associated with behaviors that aim to avoid negative outcomes and losses. Consequently, consumers can display different behavioral approaches when pursuing the fulfillment of the same need, depending on their motivational focus. The combination of Maslow’s theory of human needs with Higgins’s regulatory focus theory allowed us to understand how consumers go about approaching and pursuing the fulfillment of these needs, i.e., either through a promotion or prevention focus. To illustrate, during the pandemic, consumers exercised to build a strong immune system (promotion focus) or stayed at home to avoid infection (prevention focus). While these behaviors differ, they reflect consumers’ pursuit of the same underlying need, namely securing health. Substantiating the link between regulatory focus and consumer behavior, previous research has shown that having a promotion or prevention focus affects consumers’ interest in certain product features and product evaluations (Werth and Foerster 2007). Likewise, demonstrating the role of regulatory focus for consumer reactions during the pandemic, previous research has shown that a stronger prevention focus is associated with lower levels of social activities (e.g., going to a restaurant, public event, or bar), while a promotion focus is associated with increased self-care for one’s health by, for example, taking vitamin supplements (Nakkawita et al. 2021). In essence, while Maslow’s (1943) model facilitates the identification of consumer behavior areas that correspond to fundamental needs, Higgins’s (1997) regulatory focus theory helps to understand the strategies of how consumers pursue the fulfillment of these needs. Combining both theories of human motivation provides a framework that allows a comprehensive view of motivations for consumer behavior reactions during the pandemic. Accordingly, we discussed our set of initial studies against the background of the emerging theoretical framework. Categorizing the diverse consumer reactions reported in these studies into the emerging framework shaped our understanding of the underlying value-creation dimensions and allowed us to identify areas and motives of consumer reactions that might have been underrepresented in the previous collection of our studies. To this end and to further validate our framework, we engaged in a more directed, top-down literature search. Our constant discussions led to the final five dimensions, as reported in Table 1. In line with the procedures of qualitative research, we stopped the search for further studies after reaching a point of theoretical saturation (Perkmann et al. 2018). 2.2 Areas and motivations for consumer behavior change We reflect changes in consumer behavior during the pandemic in four central areas as they correspond to Maslow’s categories of needs. Table 1 provides an overview 1 3 855 M. Imschloss, M. Schwemmle of the four areas of consumer behavior, the underlying preventionand promotionbased motivations, and examples of consumer behavior change along the five valuecreation dimensions. 2.2.1 Consumer behavior in the area of health At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, consumers faced a globally spreading, novel virus that seemed uncontrollable and was associated with severe disease course and death. This challenged consumers’ safety needs (Maslow 1943) and motivated changes in consumer behavior primarily pertaining to the area of health (Campbell et al. 2020; Galoni et al. 2020). In line with regulatory focus theory (Higgins 1997), health behaviors motivated by a prevention focus aimed at avoiding a Covid-19 infection, whereas behaviors motivated by a promotion focus reflected consumers’ desire to stay healthy or sustain and improve their overall physical and mental health. 2.2.2 Consumer behavior in the area of connectedness Love and belonging needs pertain to humans’ genetically programmed social nature to be in the company of and relate with others (Csikszentmihalyi 2000). Social distancing guidelines challenged this need for connectedness as governments temporarily shut down public spaces and facilities that usually offered consumers the opportunity for social encounters, such as parks, stores, bars, restaurants, theaters, or gyms (Brocato et al. 2015; Csikszentmihalyi 2000). Following official “stay-athome” orders, many consumers practiced self-isolation and minimized their physical social contact (Galoni et al. 2020). Working from home and the closure of schools and universities also lowered the connectedness with co-workers and fellow students and changed individuals’ organizational identification (Ashforth 2020). Accordingly, pandemic consumer behaviors of connectedness were partly motivated by prevention-focused strategies of avoiding or postponing offline interactions, such as staying at home and replacing physical with online interactions. At the same time, consumers sought physical connections and engaged in behaviors driven by promotion-based motivations, such as seeking meaning in the few remaining physical encounters in their immediate environment. 2.2.3 Consumer behavior in the area of positive self Esteem needs comprise the desire to positively evaluate oneself, to view oneself as worthwhile, and to seek esteem from other people (Maslow 1943). Central to fulfilling esteem needs are experiences of achievement, competence, accomplishment, social reputation, recognition, or appreciation (Crocker and Park 2004; Leary and Downs 1995). Limiting the opportunities to experience self-esteem through mastery in sports, education, and culture, the pandemic challenged the realization of a positive self. Likewise, through the requirements of social distancing, the pandemic prevented various forms of social recognition and appraisal and, for example, limited the opportunities to buy and display status or luxury goods that typically serve esteem needs (Csikszentmihalyi 2000). Consumers driven by a prevention-based motivation 1 3 856 Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and… Area of consumer behavior motivation focus Core consumer reactions (short-term) Examples Dimension of value creation (long-term) Health prevention focus: avoiding contagion Online: • more online shopping • new customer segments buy online • first-time online purchases in new categories • 71% (67%) of consumers who bought consumer electronics (DIY and garden) products for the first time online state that they will possibly also do so in the future (IFH Köln and Capgemini 2020). • 63% of German customers using digital channels for the first time purchased products (esp. grocery and entertainment) (McKinsey & Company 2020). • American consumers over 65 years spent 49% more on online purchases compared to the previous year (Bhattarai 2021). • 88% of consumers agree that they buy more products online to reduce their physical contacts to a minimum (KPMG 2021). • 55% of European consumers report that owing to the pandemic, they bought an item online that they had never bought online before (KPMG 2021). • 18% of European consumers tried out a new digital shopping method (McKinsey & Company 2021). Hyperfunctional shopping Providing more efficient or more convenient shopping processes or completely delegating the shopping process to technology Offline: • more planned shopping • more focus on safety and efficiency • less focus on the shopping experience • Increased use of automated shopping technology (Business Reporter 2020; Casselman 2021). • 77% of consumers try to reduce shopping frequency (CodeCheck 2020). • 60% of consumers state they use a shopping list for faster shopping (Ernst & Young 2020). • 78% of consumers would prefer self-checkout technology for checkout (Ernst & Young 2020). • 20% of consumers visit an alternate store owing to better hygiene measures (Ernst & Young 2020). • Consumers focus on buying necessities, such as food, hygiene, and cleaning products (Di Crosta et al. 2021). • 40% of American shoppers enjoy shopping in stores far less than before the pandemic (Lai 2021). • 55% of millennials changed their shopping behavior to less frequent but bigger-basket shopping trips (PwC 2021a). Table 1 Examples of consumer reactions during the pandemic and emerging dimensions of value creation 1 3 857 M. Imschloss, M. Schwemmle Area of consumer behavior motivation focus Core consumer reactions (short-term) Examples Dimension of value creation (long-term) Health promotion focus: seeking health • increased demand for healthrelated products and services • increased demand for healthy nutrition • 46% increase in health and fitness app downloads worldwide (Ang 2020). • 65% of consumers are now more likely to consider their health in day-to-day decision-making (Lanzi 2020). • As a result of the pandemic, consumers increasingly focus on mental health and well-being (69%), medical needs (64%), and diet (63%) (PwC 2020). • 42% of consumers consider health as a top priority (Callaghan et al. 2021). • Organic food and beverage sales in the US increased by 12.8% in 2020 (Crawford 2021). • 19% growth in sales of scales in Japan (Francis 2021). • 30% of consumers plan to increase their focus on healthy eating in 2021 compared to 2020 (Verschueren et al. 2021). • 55% of consumers are willing to pay more for healthier food options (PwC 2021a). • Tremendous increase in sales of masks, hand sanitizer, thermometers (e.g., 319% increase in medical mask sales in the US at the end of February 2020; Statista 2021a). Holistic health Supporting consumers in sustaining and improving their physical and mental health Connectedness prevention focus: avoiding/postponing offline interactions Taking offline interactions online • 33% of consumers consider connecting virtually with friends a high priority (Accenture 2020a). • 43% (40%) of consumers increased their use of virtual service consultations for electronics (for personal health), and 78% expect to sustain an increased level of use after the pandemic (Accenture 2020b). • Global virtual events grew by 1,000% (Koetsier 2020). • 36% of US adults report an increase in voice, and 30% increase in video calls with their family and friends (Nguyen et al. 2020). • 15% of Americans attended a virtual event for the first time (Hunter 2021). • 40% of marketing events in 2022 are planned to be virtual (Statista Research Department 2021). Hybrid connectedness Offering consumers emotional and social benefits from physical and digital interactions and the embeddedness in their local communities Promotion focus: seeking meaning in physical bonds • reconsidering the role of physical touch points • stronger bonds with the immediate environment (e.g., neighbors) • 56% of consumers shop in closer neighborhood stores, with 79% intending to continue after the pandemic (Accenture 2020b). • 62% of consumers think that the pandemic will strengthen local communities (Accenture 2020c). • 54% of consumers would like to see offline stores develop more into meeting places for communities after the pandemic (QVC 2020). • 22% of consumers shopped at a new retailer/store/website to support local businesses (Barchet et al. 2021). • 32% of consumers established closer bonds with their neighbors (Chaker 2021). • 54% of consumers state they buy more online out of necessity rather than conviction, with 67% of online shoppers still preferring to shop at local retail stores (KPMG 2021). Table 1 (continued) 1 3 858 Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and… well as hedonic experiences through, for example, “upskilling” and self-treatments (promotion-based). To avoid situational discouragement, consumers countered pandemic distress by engaging in hedonic distraction. For instance, they turned massively toward digital in-home entertainment, such as video streaming or video-on-demand (Adgate 2021). Many consumers—especially Generation Z—found hedonic distraction in online shopping and engaged in it for the sake of enjoyment (Koch et al. 2020). Likewise, consumers sought non-digital ways of hedonic distraction through board games, as reflected in the growth of the market for adult puzzles—around 50%, with that of single-player games increasing by over 20% in 2020 (Matalucci 2021). To promote their self-esteem, consumers consciously engaged in activities providing hedonic experiences at home to help them (re-)gain self-esteem or stable mental health. As such, 35% of American consumers enjoyed cooking more than ever, and 75% reported having gained an increased confidence level in the kitchen (Hunter 2020). Another approach was “upskilling,” which refers to improving or professionalizing existing interests and exploring new areas of interest. For instance, consumers engaged more in reading, gardening, and home decoration, with 20% indicating an eagerness to acquire a new skill and 18% seeking to start a new hobby (Sakal 2020). Substantiating this shift to experiential activities and a more conscious hedonic consumer mindset, consumers also started to create hedonic experiences for themselves. For example, consumers traded up their purchases and substituted conventional products with high-end premium versions (e.g., kitchen appliances), engaged in home improvement, or created hedonic moments, such as buying “premium spaghetti sauce or salon-worthy shampoo” (Kapner 2020). Indicating a lasting change, 44% of German consumers planned to spend more on treating and rewarding themselves in the long term (Barchet et al. 2021). The pandemic also increased consumers’ general appreciation of a hedonic lifestyle, as 35% of consumers reported that enjoying life has become of greater importance to them since the outbreak of the pandemic (Mastercard 2021). Conscious hedonism might remain a plausible source for value creation in postpandemic times. As such, 33% of consumers surveyed in 2022 indicated that compared to the previous year, they now put more emphasis on embracing self-care by, for example, engaging in indulgent baths or beauty treatments (Accenture 2022). Projections—such as for the beauty market—further reflect consumers’ post-pandemic focus on hedonic up-trading through premiumization. For instance, a McKinsey study suggests that the annual growth rate for premium (vs. mass) beauty products is expected to reach 8% (vs. only 5%) between 2022 and 2027 (Amed et al. 2023). This trend toward seeking experiences also extends to other areas such as travel behavior. Here, consumers’ preference for experiential activities (e.g., wellness, nature, cuisine, active lifestyle) compared to conventional activities (e.g., arts and culture, nightlife, shopping, family activities) increased by almost 10% points from 2019 to 2023 (Mabrian 2023). Further, evidencing consumers’ persisting focus on acquiring or enhancing self-improvement skills, the US market for personal development is expected to witness a significant growth from $45.92 billion in 2023 to $67.02 billion in 2030 (Grand View Research 2023). 1 3 865 M. Imschloss, M. Schwemmle 3.5 Value-creation dimension #5: responsible consumption Responsible consumption primarily creates value by allowing consumers to experience a positive contribution to environmental and societal sustainability through shopping and consumption (White et al. 2019). It originates from prevention-based behaviors in the area of values, such as avoiding irresponsible behavior (e.g., avoiding waste), and from promotion-based behaviors actively fostering responsibility (e.g., paying more for sustainable products). The pandemic disrupted several responsible consumption habits, as illustrated by a survey among German fashion consumers, according to which 57% of respondents changed their lifestyle during the pandemic to reduce their environmental footprint (Granskog et al. 2020). For example, to avoid excessive material consumption, 65% of consumers intended to buy more high-quality, longer-lasting fashion items in the future, 71% planned to throw away fashion items less often, and 57% aimed to repair them instead of replacing them with new ones (Granskog et al. 2020). Other studies indicate that 43% of European consumers experienced “packaging guilt” when receiving orders with too much or unsustainable packaging, and 29% of consumers stopped buying from particular brands due to their unsustainable packaging (DS Smith 2020). The percentage of consumers who view sustainability as a critical criterion for their brand choice increased by 22% during the pandemic, with 54% of consumers being willing to pay a premium for sustainable or environmentally friendly brands (IBM 2021). The pandemic particularly rendered the value of regionality for responsible consumption, as 40% of consumers indicated to consider purchasing local produce to be more relevant since the pandemic, and 48% of respondents assume that local produce will be of higher importance to them in the future (DS Smith 2020). According to a Capgemini survey, 67% of consumers reported that because of the pandemic, they became more careful with dwindling natural resources, and 37% planned to change their consumption preferences based on responsibility considerations such as the social impact, inclusivity, or environmental impact of their purchases (Jacobs et al. 2020). While the trend toward responsible consumption was already evident in prepandemic times, the pandemic has accelerated changes in consumers’ attitudes and actions. For instance, 58% of consumers reported being more mindful of their impact on the environment than in pre-pandemic times (Mastercard 2021). The pandemic might have a lasting impact on consumers’ responsible consumption values as it taught consumers how individual actions and behaviors can affect the lives of others and the well-being of society as a whole. In an Accenture survey with 25,000 respondents, 50% of consumers agreed that the pandemic made them reevaluate what was important in life, and 42% of consumers agreed that due to the pandemic, they realized that they had to focus on others more than on themselves (Curtis et al. 2021). Indicating the fundamental impact of the pandemic on consumers’ responsible consumption habits, research surveying Italian respondents suggests that 40% of consumers became moderately or extremely more aware of how their purchase decisions contribute to environmental issues due to the pandemic and highlights that 20% of consumers perform pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., waste separation, energy saving, zero-waste behavior, and avoidance of plastic waste) more often than before the 1 3 866 Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and… pandemic (Dangelico et al. 2022). In terms of purchase patterns, 28% of consumers reported having reduced consumption as they recognized that they could live a happy life with less, and 45% reported having purchased higher quality products due to longevity considerations (Standish 2022). Responsible consumption might not be a temporary pandemic phenomenon, as 55% of consumers intend to keep their new responsible consumption values even in the face of aggravating economic pressure (Standish 2022). Thereby, consumers’ responsible consumption values capture both environmental and social consequences. As such, it is important to consumers that brands not only use sustainable materials in their products (42% of consumers) but also ensure fair labor conditions (41%), offer repair services (35%), and actively contribute to combating climate change (30%) (Klarna 2023). Accordingly, a 2022 UK survey revealed that 27% of consumers would be willing to pay more for products of brands committed to respecting human rights, 25% of consumers would pay more for respecting ethical working conditions, and 26% of consumers would pay more for commitments to ensure the protection of biodiversity (Deloitte 2022). The same study demonstrates that consumers have been focusing much more on only buying what they need, compared to 2021. Hence, facilitating responsible consumption likely remains a prominent dimension for value creation in tomorrow’s retailing landscape. Given that 64% of consumers experience happiness from buying sustainable products (Jacobs et al. 2020), we propose that responsible consumption creates not only a rational but also emotional value for consumers in the new normal. Clearly, the potential to create value through each of the outlined value-creation dimensions hinges on the parameters of the buying situation and the retailing context. Thus, the value-creation potential of each dimension depends on product characteristics, consumer characteristics, characteristics of the purchase situation, retailer characteristics, attributes of retail channels or retail formats, and qualities of the retail environment—just to mention some examples. 4 Implications for tomorrow’s retailing practice We propose that the retailers who succeed in the new retailing landscape will be those who create next-level customer experiences and engage in new collaboration structures to effectively address the five dimensions of consumer value creation. Our assumption is that the distinction between online and offline channels will be less important in the future, while smart integration will gain in relevance. We thus treat hybrid connectedness as an implied component for all implications. 4.1 Taking customer experiences to the next level Customer experiences are typically multidimensional and comprise the “customer’s cognitive, emotional, behavioral, sensorial, and social responses to a firm’s offerings” (Lemon and Verhoef 2016, p. 71). The pandemic has reshaped what constitutes a satisfying customer experience and provided retailers the possibility to deliver nextlevel customer experiences by addressing the proposed value creation dimensions. 1 3 867 M. Imschloss, M. Schwemmle We illuminate four distinct approaches to building such experiences and suggest that retailers will benefit from using new technologies to advance hyperfunctional customer experiences, experimenting with innovations in services for the integration of holistic health, reconsidering the role of inspirational and social-interactive elements for creating hedonic customer experiences, and integrating experiences of responsible consumption through innovations in store concepts and retail operations. 4.1.1 Advancing functional customer experiences across channels To address the value-creation dimension of hyperfunctional shopping, retailers need to create next-level functional shopping experiences, both offline and online. To meet customers’ needs for time-efficient and convenient, effortless shopping, stationary retailers can make use of new technologies (Dekimpe et al. 2020), such as autonomous shopping systems like Amazon Go’s cashier-free shopping or Whole Foods’s pick-up stations, where customers order groceries online and later collect them instore (de Bellis and Johar 2020; Valinsky 2020). Similarly, retailers can leverage technology so customers can delegate stages of the customer journey (Hoyer et al. 2020; Reinartz et al. 2019). Examples include voice-based ordering (e.g., Amazon’s Alexa) and smart devices that order products automatically, such as smart fridges. While these developments were already evident in pre-pandemic times, the pandemic has fundamentally accelerated consumers’ adoption of such technologies, which is also reflected by the growth of touchless commercial interactions during the pandemic (Scates 2020). In line with this, the global e-commerce transaction value made through voice assistants is forecasted to rise tremendously from $4.6 billion in 2021 to $19.4 billion in 2023 (Juniper Research 2021). Consequently, retailers face the challenge of balancing the advantages of technology with the dangers of alienation for both customers and employees (Bolton et al. 2018). In addition to considering consumers’ reliance on technology, retailers should reassess their store concepts to foster functional offline shopping experiences. In particular, retailers can make shopping more efficient by establishing functional shopping zones as store-in-store concepts. For instance, the German drugstore chain dm grouped all men’s products in a dedicated and differently designed area, allowing male customers to buy all products they need in one place (RetailAnalysis 2019). Catering to consumers’ increased interest in hyperfunctional shopping that emerged from the pandemic, grocery retailers can group the most frequently purchased products in a separate “kiosk zone” near the entrance for immediate purchases. To facilitate functional experiences online, retailers should anticipate the needs of their first-time users. For instance, the grocery delivery provider Instacart initiated a “senior support service” to support older first-time customers in placing their online orders (Boyle 2021). 4.1.2 Integrating holistic health in customer experiences With their brick-and-mortar stores, supply chains, and consumer data, retailers are in a preferred position to create holistic health customer experiences, especially in the field of health prevention. As such, a recent survey by Deloitte with 16,000 European 1 3 868 Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and… respondents indicated that 44–51% of consumers generally feel comfortable having health interventions like sight or hearing tests and measurements of blood pressure, glucose, or cholesterol carried out in nonclinical retail settings (Hop et al. 2023). Likewise, a growing number of US retailers like Walmart, Target, and Amazon have increased their investments to integrate healthcare products or services into their retail spaces (Monteros 2022). In light of these developments, retailers are advised to define their role and invent novel offers to deliver holistic health experiences in the future. For instance, the American supermarket chain Hy-Vee offers individual nutrition counseling in their stores and online (Douglas Moran 2021). In a similar way, DIY stores could offer services preventing common home improvement injuries, and grocery retailers could analyze customers’ purchases and provide a health index of their shopping cart at the checkout or through an online platform. Focusing on employees’ mental health, Starbucks offers employees free subscriptions to a meditation app and free therapy sessions (Umoh 2020). Retailers could engage in similar practices that turn shopping into a positive mental health experience for their customers, such as providing chillout zones in garden centers, offering yoga classes during lunch breaks, or organizing meetups that also strengthen the local community. Examples include the UK-based supermarket chain Waitrose, which offers in-store yoga classes to account for the target group’s increasing interest in wellness (Pijak 2018), and the UK-based shopping centre:mk Milton Keynes, which recently invested in a zen-style chillout area to provide relaxation for stressed consumers (Murrer 2023). With the pandemic leading to a heightened appreciation for health and self-care, consumers will likely prefer retailers who accomplish to deliver experiences that appeal to customers’ health and well-being in post-pandemic times. While retailers that have provided health-related services during the pandemic, such as having test centers or offering vaccinations on-premise, might have particularly positioned themselves as suitable for providing health experiences to their customers, the challenge is to determine which healthcare offerings consumers will value in post-pandemic times. For example, it seems intuitive or reasonable that grocery retailers might venture into offering nutrition advice at their retail locations or providing consumers with a health index of their shopping basket; however, such health interventions might backfire as not all consumers want to be confronted with their dietary habits. Accordingly, it is important for retailers to carefully select those types of interventions that match their target group’s needs, the type of retail space in terms of the available floor space and potential visibility or consumer privacy concerns, and the retailing context itself. 4.1.3 Increasing relevance of hedonic customer experiences across channels Our examination suggests that retailers should deliver inspirational and social-interactive benefits to create advanced hedonic offline and online customer experiences. While inspirational benefits relate to marketing activities that stimulate ideas within customers, which then transform into consumption-related goals (Böttger et al. 2017), social-interactive benefits relate to the conscious inclusion of “social others” in the customer journey (Hamilton et al. 2021). A conceivable approach to providing inspirational benefits in both onand offline retail environments is the reliance on technology, such as augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) (Heller et al. 1 3 869 M. Imschloss, M. Schwemmle 2019; Hoyer et al. 2020; Schmitt 2019). For instance, the cosmetics retailer Douglas offers an app to virtually try out products, such as lipsticks and makeup, at home but has also installed “AR Beauty Mirrors” in its physical outlets to enable a COVIDconforming way of testing these products in-store before purchasing them (Douglas 2021; Rondinella 2019). Similarly, the fashion retailer American Eagle introduced a new VR jeans guide on Snapchat that allows customers to assess the fit of the pants from a three-dimensional perspective (Nix 2021). Employing such technologies might significantly foster multisensory product imagination in online retail environments and facilitate mental product simulation as well as shopping inspiration both offline and online. Indeed, previous research underscores the role of AR/VR in enhancing customer experiences (Wedel et al. 2020). Retailers can further deliver inspirational benefits by rethinking the design of physical and online retail environments as well as the design of product presentations. Some retailers have already initiated corresponding plans. For instance, in its Munich flagship bookstore, the German book retailer Hugendubel appeals to customers not by presenting books in established categories, such as travel, cooking, and religion, but by organizing the entire store layout around larger themes, such as “live and enjoy” or “window to the world,” where India travel guides are placed next to books about Indian cuisine and Hinduism (Sieg 2019). Furthermore, to engage their online customers, retailers should leverage new possibilities of video content (Heller et al. 2019; Hoyer et al. 2020; Huyghe et al. 2017; Li et al. 2020). For example, Home Depot inspires its customers to start DIY projects through online tutorial videos (http://videos.homedepot.com), describing activities such as how to lay floor tiles or how to prepare walls for painting. A relatively new format that links online live streaming with e-commerce is referred to as “live commerce” (Arora et al. 2021). For instance, Walmart live-streamed events with famous TikTok creators presenting their favorite beauty products, and users could buy these products directly from Walmart (Perez 2021). This also serves as an example of the importance of collaborations between retailers and external partners. Replacing offline shopping experiences, live commerce usage has grown by 76% during the pandemic and bears the potential of becoming a source for hedonic customer experiences in the new normal (Statista 2021b). Retailers can provide social-interactive benefits by creating community experiences that integrate and engage others in social customer journeys. The US supermarket chain Giant, for example, offered free virtual cooking classes “to bring the family together around the table” during the pandemic (Browne 2021). Similarly, offering social-interactive benefits during the pandemic, a German grocery retailer combined shopping with dating, encouraging singles to go shopping on Friday evenings (Bobillo 2021). As an illustration of how retailers can engage in online community-building, the home décor boutique The Feathered Farmhouse activates its online community by initiating a “What’d Ya Do With It? Wednesdays!” series on Instagram (https:// www.instagram.com/thefeatheredfarmhouse). Customers share pictures of Feathered Farmhouse products in their homes and inspire other customers’ home decoration. Likewise, to foster social-interactive experiences across onand offline channels and create a hybrid connectedness, Levi’s encourages customers to use an online cowatching video app in-store to virtually shop with friends (Papagiannis 2020). 1 3 870 Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and… 4.1.4 Responsible consumption as a new dimension of the customer experience Since consumers increasingly value responsible consumption, retailers have to find ways to integrate responsibility as a new facet of customer experience. Two plausible ways are through responsible store concepts and responsible processes. The first way creates responsible consumption experiences that depend on new store and assortment concepts built around responsibility. The German grocery retailer REWE, for instance, recently launched a Green Farming Market, housed in an ecologically friendly building, that offers on-premises grown herbs and fish and a local and organic product assortment with market stands where local producers sell their products. Shoppers have access to digital services, such as self-service checkout and pick-up services (Wendorf 2021). This approach illustrates how retailers can combine hedonic and functional customer experiences with responsible consumption. A more extreme example is the Berlin-based department store B-Wa(h)renhaus, which made recycling its core strategy. Its nine vendors offer only recycled and upcycled products—from furniture and clothing to electrical appliances (Broom 2020). More recently, the German outdoor retailer Globetrotter not only launched its first secondhand collection Re:mix 001 but also opened its first Re:Think Store, a store concept that is committed to the continued use of the previous tenant’s inventory, repairing or renting products, promoting secondhand equipment, and communitybuilding through workshops and talks (Ersch-Arnolds 2023a, 2023b). These examples illustrate how retailers can promote and motivate customers to repair and reuse products instead of throwing them away—thereby not only fostering more sustainable consumption habits but also building communities of like-minded customers. Clearly, the pandemic did not initiate the transformation toward responsible consumption; however, it acted as a catalyst that tremendously accelerated consumers’ awareness and engagement with responsibility and sustainability. A second way retailers can drive responsible consumption is through advanced retail operations, such as reducing packaging waste through sustainable packaging materials, offering refill stations, and experimenting with package-free products. For example, since mid-2023, the German grocery retailer REWE no longer distributes printed flyers but uses alternative channels for its product promotions, thus saving 73,000 tons of paper (REWE 2022). Retailers can also rely on “green IT,” which comprises algorithms that reduce servers’ energy consumption (Murugesan 2008), and, together with their logistics partners, foster green delivery. On the product level, retailers can address consumers’ heightened interest in responsibility by making sustainability information available and facilitating search behaviors based on sustainability criteria (e.g., online filter systems or an offline assortment arrangement). Importantly, retailers who engage in such practices have to find ways to credibly and authentically communicate their responsibility efforts to their customers to avoid suspicions of greenwashing. 4.2 Rising importance of new collaboration structures Creating value along the five value-creation dimensions by delivering next-level customer experiences on these dimensions requires new capabilities in very different 1 3 871 M. Imschloss, M. Schwemmle areas, and retailers cannot efficiently build these capabilities alone. Engagement in new collaborations with other retailers, organizations, or external partners will likely enable retailers to successfully address the five value-creation dimensions. 4.2.1 Engaging in new local and retailer–retailer collaborations across channels While collaborations between retailers, distributors, and manufacturers are nothing new, the pandemic has led to a new form of primarily local collaborations driven by solidarity and support. For example, while in the second quarter of 2020, McDonald’s experienced a drop in sales of almost 25% (McDonald’s 2020a), the discount retailer ALDI was severely understaffed owing to increased demand (McDonald’s 2020b). McDonald’s allowed its employees to work for ALDI, which helped ALDI meet the increased demand, provided consumers with the goods they needed, and compensated McDonald’s employees for pandemic-related pay cuts. This collaboration shows how retailers’ collaborations can increasingly reflect solidarity and corporate citizenship behavior, illustrating the value-creation dimension of hybrid connectedness. Another example of collaboration is that between the European bike retailer Rose Bikes and a travel agency, in which Rose Bikes rented the travel agent’s facilities to open a pop-up store. While such an investment would normally not be profitable, Rose Bikes wanted to “show solidarity with companies that are robbed of their existence by the crisis and support [them] where we can” (Randler 2020). We suggest that retailers establish more collaborations to strengthen their connectedness with the local community in the future. For instance, retailers can rent spaces to new local retailers with a complementary product range, thereby allowing the newcomers to enter the market, extending the product range of established retailers, and providing the local community with an innovative product assortment. A further form of retailer collaboration is through platforms. For example, Zalando’s Connected Retail program allows local fashion retailers to offer their products on Zalando’s webstore and then ship orders directly to their customers (Zalando 2020). During lockdowns, this platform helped smaller retailers without their own online channels to continue running their businesses. Through this collaboration, Zalando received a broader assortment without extending products in stock, and local retailers gained a new sales channel. By focusing on the value-creation dimensions of hybrid connectedness and responsible consumption, retailers can establish platforms with a focus on local or sustainable products. For example, during the pandemic, physical farmers’ markets set up their own online platforms to make local products available to more customers (Marvar 2021). 4.2.2 Establishing collaborations with external partners The pandemic especially affected the consumption of services that involve a high level of interpersonal interaction or exposure to other customers, such as at restaurants, gyms, or beauty salons. Many consumers replaced the consumption of such services with purchasing suitable products and performing the appropriate services to or by themselves. For example, consumers turned to DIY beauty service applications like hair coloring, manicures, or self-tanning at home, with many consumers 1 3 872 Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and… likely retaining this new habit even after lockdowns ended (Culliney 2020). In line with this, the UK Beauty & Grooming Report from 2022 shows that 85% of respondents perform DIY beauty treatments at home, with 45% doing facials, 29% shaping eyebrows, and 28% carrying out manicure or pedicure treatments (Attest 2022). The consequences of such a change in consumer behavior are evidenced by projections of McKinsey for the US beauty market, according to which particularly conventional beauty services (e.g., nail care services) are expected to have a slower recovery to pre-pandemic levels than other beauty services (e.g., luxury spas or skin-related services) given the confidence consumers gained in performing these simple conventional services with at-home substitutes during the pandemic (Adams et al. 2022). Other examples demonstrate how the collaboration of a retailer with a technology partner allows new services that facilitate value creation through hyperfunctional shopping. As such, the telecommunication company Vodafone and the German grocery chain REWE developed a self-driving snack mobile so customers no longer need to go to the store because the store comes to them (Hübner 2021). While REWE is responsible for the assortment and logistics, Vodafone provides the technology for navigation and real-time data transfer. Retailers can exploit consumers’ willingness to replace services through product purchases and thereby address the value-creation dimension of conscious hedonism. To this end, they need to not only offer suitable products but also provide the knowledge required to create hedonic at-home service experiences. To illustrate, Sally Beauty opened its first DIY hair salon in 2023, where consumers not only can buy hair care products of professional quality (e.g., colorings) but are trained by licensed stylist-educators on how to apply these products at home (Canner 2023). Similarly, some retailers already offer the expert knowledge that turns the consumption of products into DIY service experiences (e.g., wine retailers offering wine-tasting kits containing wine, a tasting guide, and a map of wine regions), while others need to collaborate with external partners. As an example, haute cuisine restaurants that offer takeaway menus or “finish at home” kits (West and Henderson 2021) could partner with an interior designer to explain how to set the perfect table and create the right atmosphere for exclusive dining at home. In a similar vein, drugstores could partner with influencers or beauty magazines to explain how to create a home spa day and provide bundles with all products needed. Likewise, to create value through experiences of holistic health, retailers can go beyond carrying health-related products in their assortment and provide healthor wellness-related services through collaborations with partners (Callaghan et al. 2021). For instance, to provide in-store yoga classes or nutritional advice, retailers might have to partner with yoga instructors or dietitians. Other examples of retail-health collaborations include Walmart’s partnership with the insurance company UnitedHealthcare to run “Medicare Member Service Centers” (Walmart 2022) and Kroger’s collaboration with Performance Kitchen to offer medically tailored meals (PharmacyTimes 2023). Finally, to create value through responsible consumption, retailers can underpin the seriousness of their responsibility intentions through strategic partnerships with independent NGOs. For example, the cooperation between the German food retailer EDEKA and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) involves co-branding EDEKA’s private-label products with the WWF seal to signal that these products fulfill 1 3 873 M. Imschloss, M. Schwemmle specific sustainability standards (WWF 2020). Similarly, the fashion retailer H&M partners with ThredUP’s resale-as-a-service platform to facilitate secondhand sales and to realize its sustainability mission (Edelson 2023). Clearly, while some of the outlined collaborations might have been a temporary pandemic phenomenon (e.g., that between ALDI and McDonald’s), others were more permanent and manifested (e.g., Zalando). Also, while some of the collaborations emerged because they offered equal benefits for both partners during the pandemic, the benefit ratio might change and must be reassessed in post-pandemic times. However, irrespective of whether these collaborations permeated, whether they have been spurred by pandemic solidarity or the desire for an improvement of firm image, they have paved the way for a more collaborative mindset among retailers, which might translate into an increase in collaborations in the future. Specifically, we propose that successful retailers will be those who manage to establish collaboration structures enabling next-level customer experiences on the five value creation dimensions. 5 Implications for future retailing research The proposed dimensions of post-pandemic consumer value creation raise a variety of questions that require deeper examination. We particularly highlight research questions about responsible consumption, digital customers, holistic health experiences, and the role of collaboration structures for experience creation, as well as about monetizing the value-creation dimensions. 5.1 Managing and promoting responsible consumption experiences Retailers can address consumers’ needs for responsible consumption through diverse retail practices. For instance, they can adjust their assortment and pricing strategy to balance consumers’ demand for sustainable product alternatives and the needs of price-sensitive or brand-loyal customers. Retailers can also set new retailing trends by reconfiguring their private-label strategy to meet the needs of specific market segments, such as for responsible consumption (Dekimpe and Geyskens 2019). In this regard, research can explore how retailers can use their data to come up with smart private-label strategies fostering responsible consumption (Gielens et al. 2021). This variety of approaches shows that more research is needed to better understand the determinants of responsible consumption experiences and the requirements retailers must meet to create them. Investigations can include identifying facets of consumers’ responsible consumption, developing a quantitative measurement of the value of responsible consumption, and examining the significance of diverse retail practices to create a responsible consumption experience. Also important is responsible consumption’s contribution to the overall customer experience and its interaction with other elements, such as price, brand, or quality perceptions. Research could also explore success criteria for implementing responsible consumption strategies. For instance, the fashion retailer H&M’s recently introduced Conscious Collection line is suspected of “disguising the reality of fast-fashion” (Pearcy 2021), illustrating the need for research about what an authentic retailer1 3 874 Value creation in post-pandemic retailing: a conceptual framework and… References Accenture (2020a) COVID-19: Retail consumer habits shift long-term. In: Accenture. https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/retail/coronavirus-consumer-habits. Accessed 20 Aug 2021 Accenture (2020b) How is COVID-19 changing the retail consumer? Data-driven insights into consumer behavior. Accenture COVID-19 Consumer Pulse Research – Wave 7. 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