Widespread curbside pick-up, flexible store environments, buy online, pick-up in-store (BOPIS) protocols – the new norms have dramatically accelerated this recent surge of in-store adaptation and innovation. As brands dive ever deeper for new ways to maximize the customer experience – and adapt to the rapidly changing world – they should consider looking first at the past.

What lessons can we apply from retail's post-millennium evolution to our current pandemic-disrupted situation? Below, we'll begin with a journey through the recent history of retail and then project our learnings onto the modern problems of today's retailers.