Why winning the final mile is crucial
The outbreak of Covid has had an undeniable effect on businesses worldwide, creating all kinds of new problems to be solved. For the companies that had to close physical stores, the answer appeared obvious: escalate and expand ecommerce efforts.
In the UK, online retail in relation to total retail saw the equivalent of 10 years’ growth in just three months at the onset of the pandemic. Online grocery sales doubled almost overnight, albeit on an admittedly low base.
The headlines that followed were entirely predictable; if you are not pivoting to online sales, you are about to get forever overtaken by the competitors that are. However, few seemed to consider whether this was actually true or merely evidence by citation to drive an overall narrative – what psychologists would call a Woozle effect.
