Solidarity & Co

As the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to be felt by countries and communities around the world, words like Unprecedented, Crisis and Panic – generally uncommon in use – are currently a part of everyday life and daily conversations, and for good reason. But at this time of enforced social distancing, another word (with more positive associations) is, thankfully, also becoming more widely adopted: ‘Together’.

At times during the last few weeks, the nation has felt anything but. TV and social media stories shared chaotic scenes of panic buying that overwhelmed our big national supermarkets and left key workers, the elderly and other vulnerable groups unable to buy the essential products they also needed.

‘Together’ sums up the situation that people, regardless of nationality, age or background, now collectively find themselves. It confers subtly calm but powerful sentiment for actions that we are required to follow to shield us and our families, and indeed everyone else in society in a ‘selfless act’ of global unity to protect others from the effects of this deadly disease.

It’s a word that has also been used by many retail brands in their public announcements to close stores, restrict their online operations or to temporarily withdraw other ‘business as usual’ services. Through the use of this word, it presents a ‘voice’ of humanity and to offer optimistic reassurance. That by working as one – separately and collectively – towards a common cause, we can play our part in helping the normality of life to return. As anyone who works in business knows, to realise a better future you have to create an environment where people can unite in collaborative groups because ‘Together’ we can achieve more.

And so also to another word: one that conjures up the spirit of this ‘war time’ mentality. Solidarity.

In response to these dramatic events, the UK’s biggest grocers uniquely joined forces to publish an open letter to the British people in the national press asking shoppers for their cooperation to ‘shop normally and responsibly’ in a move titled ‘Feeding the Nation’. Reassuring us all that there is sufficient food in the grocery system, if we all shopped as we normally do – without excessive stockpiling.

Yes, sophisticated grocery demand-forecasting systems were initially caught ‘off guard’ by the surge in shopper purchases – displaying more familiar human fallibility, despite the wealth of big data information and precise analysis on typical shopper behaviour patterns. But then events of recent weeks have been anything but ‘typical’. Without historic examples for predictive algorithms to ‘learn from’, modelling alone was unable to respond to such unprecedented scenarios. Nor did the internal supply chain have the early ability to respond to the scale or speed of change. Despite great advances, both remain hugely reliant on human intervention and the direct input of experienced teams – working collaboratively (and long hours) – to think in new, reactive and proactive ways to successfully problem-solve.

The UK government has also temporarily relaxed some elements of competition law; part of a package of measures that allow supermarkets to work together. During normal times, retailers and brands operate within a competitive environment. In this instance, ‘together’ is not a word usually associated with companies operating in the same sector. Laws are rightly in place to prevent this from happening. To protect us from malign practices that could harm shoppers, their workers or people in the supply chain from shady practices that rise from illegal cartels. This important move will now allow retailers to share data with each other on stock levels, cooperate to keep key shops open, or share distribution depots and delivery vehicles. It will also allow retailers to pool staff with each other to help meet demand. In time, this could see the number of competing stores in an area reduced to keep fewer, carefully located stores open to satisfy local areas should it be necessary to reduce the number of stores open at one time. It’s a considerably different way of working.

The daily reality of our world has changed, and quickly. But it’s heartening to see many proactive, innovative examples from supermarkets and their store teams working so hard to ‘Feed the Nation’. Grocery retailers and the army of employees working tirelessly – on the frontline and behind the scenes – should be applauded for taking the initiative to implement proactive solutions in these challenging times. Ideas born out of crisis: executed with imagination, pace and compassion for the needs of communities, collectively. Whether that’s extending shop hours to open early for special and vulnerable groups within our community, closing instore food counters and cafes to redeploy valuable team members to the ‘front line’, or organising the installation of protective screens for checkout staff and shoppers alike. And to the countless acts of generosity of spirit and kindness of heart that have been demonstrated from all those working in the grocery industry: retailers, food producers and their multiple teams who have all ‘stepped up’ to the challenge.

Retailers and their employees have been more than simply providers of goods. They are also playing their part in helping to restore cohesion where it has been broken, create camaraderie where it is lacking and, crucially, to create a sense of common unity (comm~unity) for all of us. Throughout history, this is how nations and their people respond when the going gets tough.

Retail’s role in our society and communities has been elevated, like never before. And I for one am proud of the hard work and efforts of our nation’s grocery retailers. Together, they are putting people before profit, collaboration ahead of competition – working in solidarity to put shared common interests, and the needs of our nation, first. They truly are our industry’s heroes right now – thank you.