Retail has a long road ahead to recover from the pandemic. The market disruption will require retailers to balance innovation and sensitivity to drive customers into the store. Following the pandemic, consumers will crave safe spaces and distance, but pent-up demand to be in public spaces will drive them out of the house. The winning retailers will be able to balance and acknowledge both these trends.

"People will always seek out new experiences, and retail owners and developers have been tasked with providing them as a means of attracting customers into the brick-and-mortar setting," Greg Lyon, chairman and principal of Nadel Architecture + Planning, tells GlobeSt.com. "Retail design is likely to support these new experiences by being innovative and still sensitive to a society that has been wary to interact in person over the last year."

After the vaccine has been distributed and the virus has been quelled, protective wear, like masks, may not be necessary, but consumers will still feel most comfortable in spaces with a health and safety plan. "The demand for retail spaces with superior ventilation systems and touchless point-of-purchase will continue, as will the call for features that allow for these new and unusual experiences," says Lyon.