The evolving retail dance: Technology, COVID-19 and 2021

Want to understand the future of retail? Check out Foxtrot in Chicago, Illinois, and Dallas, Texas. The modern convenience store presents a clicks and bricks environment that represents among the best in omnichannel retailing today.

Retail trends of the day come to life in the updated corner store as Foxtrot:

Mike LaVitola didn’t set out to build the Foxtrot you see today. His vision: an online convenience store that got orders to customers’ doors in less than an hour. Twists. Turns. Legal challenges (think liquor laws). Innovating the original plan birthed the brick-and-mortar side of Foxtrot.

Two cities and 10 stores later, investors see great opportunity in what he has built. He closed a $17 million growth round in early 2020. So watch for more stores in Chicago, Dallas and now Washington, D.C., to open this year.

It’s almost as if S2G Ventures looked at Foxtrot as it built its model for the future of food retailing. Our features this month look at what’s changing because of the pandemic and what simply is changing, virus aside, on the retail front.

Related:Pandemic platforms: Natural's core values will move us forward

The arrival of COVID-19 last year forced fast adoption of offerings and operational changes that many have talked about and forecasted for years. Change isn’t easy. For many, it comes slowly. Until it’s forced. And, no, it still isn’t simple. But if there’s one thing 2020 showed us, it's that natural retailers are resilient.

So many haven’t wanted to make such steps. Technology seems so unnatural, so unhuman—traits we tend to loathe as natural products retailers.

Yet, retailers must use technology to make things convenient for customers and as a tool to know your customers better.

Foxtrot built its business from just such tech assistance. Convenience and data are but two key retail trends with the power to change—and grow—natural. Check out my retail predictions for the coming year.