Last year’s Modern Retail Index focused heavily on the impacts that Covid had on the way customers shop. This year, we still see the pandemic’s lasting impact in a post-vaccine era. Despite customers’ return to in-store shopping, retailers are still feeling the virus’s impact on supply chains. 

In a July 2022 Modern Retail survey, nearly two-thirds (63%) of respondents said they were investing in new technologies and capabilities to combat supply chain delays. Those supply chain concerns reached a peak for some companies in late 2022 during the holiday shopping season, a time of year many retailers rely on to make the bulk of their revenue. Evan Moskal, co-founder of Courant, a wireless charging brand specializing in home and office tech accessories, said it takes the company’s team all year to plan for the onslaught of holiday sales, especially amid supply chain strains during the past couple of years.

And a slammed supply chain is only one of the challenges retailers face. With customers growing more accustomed to ordering online through Covid-related lockdowns, shoppers have also come to expect more streamlined and fast delivery. According to a 2022 shipping report from X Delivery and the Retail Management Institute of Santa Clara University, 62% of consumers expect orders to be delivered in under three business days. In the same report, 56% of abandoned carts were attributed to fulfillment concerns. Clearly, fast fulfillment matters to consumers.