Australian retailers are facing the fight of their life in 2020. Consumer confidence slumped for a period, job losses have soared, and spending behavior has been tipped on its head. The easing of restrictions and large fiscal stimulus program provide some support, but retail is likely to face headwinds on the long recovery path ahead.

After nearly 12 weeks with the majority of bricks-and-mortar stores in Melbourne unable to open during Stage 4 Covid-19 restrictions, I was 'keen as mustard' to get out to retail shops on their re-opening day to see what had changed!

Covid-19 threw a spanner in the works of many of our planned campaigns and marketing in 2020. In recognition of the unprecedented upheaval of the industry by Covid-19 last year, Shop! ANZ introduced a special one-off category in the 2020 Retail Marketing Awards; Campaign Response to a Covid-19 Changing Shopper. Read the winning case studies.