The coronavirus outbreak has seen some retailers step up to the plate and take swift action to serve customers and protect their staff, suppliers and communities. Retail Week looks at some of the awe-inspiring coronavirus responses from retailers.
Producing medical supplies
Retailers have been swift to refocus their manufacturing skills to produce medical supplies to help tackle the outbreak.
Luxury conglomerate LVMH hit the headlines two weeks ago when it started using its perfume production lines to make hand sanitiser, which it is giving to health authorities in France free of charge. Many beauty brands around the world have followed its lead with L’Oréal, Clarins Group and Coty also producing hand sanitiser.
It’s not just beauty brands that are stepping up to the plate – both H&M and Inditex, which owns Zara, are using their supply chain capacity to help produce hospital scrubs.
H&M boss Helena Helmersson reached out to the EU to “offer the company’s help” and is now producing protective equipment for doctors and nurses.
Inditex is helping its home country Spain by producing hospital clothing and is making its vast logistics and supplier network available to “meet Spain’s emergency needs of both medical and textile materials” such as protective masks, gloves, goggles and caps.
Meanwhile, Dyson is one of the companies that has responded to the NHS plea for more life-saving ventilators.
The vacuum cleaner manufacturer is working with medical specialist The Technology Partnership to develop a new type of ventilator for the NHS.
Innovating to feed the nation
Stockpiling has been rife since the onset of coronavirus in the UK and food retailers have been working hard to make sure the nation is fed.
Store and logistics staff have been working through the night to replenish stock, and the big grocers have introduced designated shopping times and home delivery slots for the elderly.
However, others have acted quickly to offer new innovative ways to shop.
M&S has partnered with Deliveroo to sell a range of food essentials, such as milk, bread and juice, to meet demand from shoppers who are practising social distancing as a result of coronavirus.
Orders made via Deliveroo’s app will be fulfilled free of charge from 120 M&S franchise stores at BP service stations.
Deliveroo itself has also launched a range of food called Essentials by Deliveroo comprising household essentials including cereal, pasta, rice and tinned canned goods, which will be rolled out across the UK over the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, Leon is transforming its fast-food restaurants into mini supermarkets selling ready meals, sauces, meats and other foods that customers can store and eat at home.
Leon has joined forces with Absolute Taste to build an online platform that allows customers to either order via click and collect or book a delivery slot for their order.
The platform will be opened up to other restaurants and caterers to enable them to sell direct to consumers.
Leon founder John Vincent said: “Until last week, half of the UK’s meals were provided by restaurants and half by supermarkets.
“On the one hand, supermarkets can’t cope; on the other, people in the foodservice industry are telling their people there are no jobs. For the sake of everyone in the UK, for customers and employees, we need to find a solution fast.”
Supporting staff
At a time when workers are worried about not being paid due to missing work, some retailers have come to the fore and supported their staff.
Superdrug and Savers owner AS Watson has unveiled a £40m employee support package, which includes full pay for parents who are unable to work remotely and are missing work due to school closures, and for anyone unable to work due to illness or self-isolation.
AS Watson Europe chief executive Malina Ngai says “no member of staff should be worse off financially because of the crisis”.
“In this challenging time, our top priority is to look after our people and our customers. Our brands are built by our people. Without their hard work and dedication, we would not be able to serve our customers so well. Financially, it’s not an easy decision but it is the right decision under such circumstances,” she says.
Morrisons has also pledged full pay for anyone who is ill, self-isolating or staying at home to look after older or vulnerable people. And John Lewis is establishing a fund to help staff facing additional costs, such as childcare, as a result of the pandemic.
In China, Starbucks has extended the medical insurance it offers staff to cover their families as well.
Supporting suppliers
It’s not just retailers that are struggling during this crisis, but suppliers too. Major grocers have vowed to pay smaller suppliers such as farmers faster.
Sainsbury’s will pay these suppliers immediately and is giving its 250 tenants and concession partners the option to pay rent on a monthly rather than quarterly basis.
For small suppliers, Morrisons is moving from a two-week payment term to two days and Tesco is accelerating from two-week to five-day payment.
Meanwhile, Amazon has donated $5m (£4.3m) to businesses based near its Seattle headquarters that will likely lose out on sales now the tech giant’s vast workforce are working from home.
Funding hospitals, research and equipment
Retailers, brands and designers have also provided vital funding to help treat those suffering from the virus as well as those researching it.
Businesses in Italy, the country that has experienced the most coronavirus deaths in the world, have been quick off the mark.
Luxury sportswear brand Moncler chairman Remo Ruffini contributed €10m (£9.1m) to authorities in Lombardy to build a new hospital, while the owners of chocolatier Ferrero donated the same amount to the Italian government’s national emergency commission to fight coronavirus.
They are not alone. The Benetton family’s investment arm has donated €3m (£2.7m) to hospitals in Milan, Rome and Treviso, while Giorgio Armani pledged $1.4m (£1.2m) to three hospitals in Milan, the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases and the Italian civil protection agency.
Meanwhile, the founders of Dolce & Gabbana have made an undisclosed donation to Humanitas University in Milan to advance research into Covid-19.
It’s not just Italian firms that are ploughing cash into helping society tackle coronavirus. Amazon has teamed up with Microsoft to create the Covid-19 Response Fund, which targets some of the US’ most affected regions.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma has donated coronavirus medical supplies to every country in Africa to help prevent an outbreak occurring on the continent. He has pledged 1.1 million testing kits, 6 million masks and 60,000 protective suits and face shields.
Ma has also sent testing kits and surgical masks to regions that have been blighted by the virus, including the US, Italy, Iran, Spain and South Korea.
Rewarding hard work
For essential workers in retail, life is tough right now. Staff in stores and distribution centres are working flat out to ensure people get fed.
To acknowledge the extraordinary efforts these employees are making some grocers are giving a bonus as thanks.
Tesco is awarding all workers a 10% bonus on their usual hourly rate with pay increases backdated to March 9. The new structure will run until May 1 when Tesco will review the situation.
Tesco UK and Republic of Ireland chief executive Jason Tarry says: “It’s been an extraordinary couple of weeks and, despite the enormous challenges, it’s been incredible to see how colleagues have stepped up and responded, doing an outstanding job during this uncertain and difficult time.
“This pay bonus is just one way we are saying thank you to our colleagues and recognising that they are on the front line, helping to feed the nation.”
“This pay bonus is just one way we are saying thank you to our colleagues and recognising that they are on the front line, helping to feed the nation”
Jason Tarry, Tesco
Sainsbury’s is also handing hourly paid staff in its supermarkets, Argos, its delivery network and customer contact centres a one-off 10% increase in hourly pay between March 9 and April 5 for “going above and beyond to serve customers during this challenging time”.
Meanwhile, Asda has pledged to give shopfloor and warehouse workers an additional week’s pay in June.
In the US, retailers such as Amazon, Walmart and Target have also offered staff special bonuses for their efforts during the coronavirus crisis.
Giving something back to our NHS
It’s not just retailers that are doing essential work, of course. NHS staff are working flat out to treat the sick right now.
Many retailers are doing what they can to help make life easier for healthcare workers. Supermarkets are offering priority access so they can buy food and before the closure of many fast-food restaurants, businesses such as Pret a Manger, Greggs and McDonald’s gave free hot drinks to key workers.
John Lewis is doing what it can to make NHS workers’ breaks more comfortable and will be donating items such as pillows, phone chargers, eye masks and hand cream to hospitals.
Both The Body Shop and L’Occitane have also donated care packages to local hospitals.
Meanwhile, sustainable footwear brand Allbirds donated 2,000 pairs of shoes to NHS workers on the front line; and Kurt Geiger has been giving £100 gift cards to workers in critical care departments and is offering all NHS staff 50% discount for a year when its stores reopen.
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