Multimedia Plus, a training and communications technology platform used by leaders in the retail and hospitality industry, released a post COVID-19 impact survey that measures the impact of COVID-19 on pressing industry issues focused on technology, training, and spending priorities. The survey, which began November 5, 2021, was a recurrence of a survey which ran in November 2020 which examined the planned financial impact and spending the COVID-19 pandemic has had on national business.  In total, 223 senior executives in the retail and hospitality industries participated in the survey that closed on November 15, 2021.

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KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Changing Concerns and Shifting Priorities:

• SUPPLY CHAIN and STAFFING ISSUES: 39% of respondents revealed Supply Chain as their highest concern heading into holiday, with 35% citing Staffing Issues as their main concern. This is a stark contrast from 52% of 2020 respondents saying New Pandemic Closures were their main concern
• RECRUITING FOR THE HOLIDAYS: 64.6% of respondents said Recruiting is their biggest challenge in staffing up for the Holiday Season compared to 36.5% of respondents in 2020
• INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: 58.19% of respondents said their 2022 IT spending would remain the same; 29.7% said they were planning on spending 10% or more
• LEADERSHIP and SAFETY TRAINING: Leadership development training (38.96%) is the highest priority training initiative for 2022, in 2020’s survey it was virtually tied with Safety training (24% to 22.86%)

New Priorities Require Faster Training & Communicating
“This year over year survey serves as an eye-opener that the shift to normal is clearly underway.  We expected that retailers and hospitality industry executives would be shifting priorities, and the numbers align.” said David Harouche, CTO, CEO, and founder of Multimedia Plus.  “With the Holiday Season quickly approaching, it’s clear that staffing, onboarding and leadership training are key concerns compared to safety training last year.  From an operational standpoint, executives need tools to help them communicate these shifting priorities to the frontline more than ever before.”

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The Impact: Communicating Effectively
As stores and restaurants begin to rapidly staff up, onboarding new associates quickly and efficiently is key. New protocols and procedures, including operations, sanitation, contactless payment, new HR rules and much more must be communicated consistently to all. In addition, as situations change state by state, even county by county, communications must be fast and targeted to be effective. In fact, the speed of these changes requires associates to be reached daily on their personal devices before they even set foot in a store. Communicating with them quickly and continuously is more important than ever before.