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The COVID-19 pandemic will change retail forever as the result of changing habits, desires and worries among shoppers. When states imposed lockdown orders to slow the spread of the virus, there was a significant uptick in e-commerce spending. Consumers were forced to shop online for more products than they did in the past, but they will return to retail stores eventually, once they're allowed to. This is especially true among millennials who "demand the in-store experience," according to Daniel Binder, one of the partners at Columbus Consulting. Binder, who helped manage supply chains in Asia during other pandemics such as SARS and H1N1, recently spoke to Retail Dive about millennials, saying: “They want the experience to be embracing, and the brand's responsibility is to build a level of trust, and the store experience helps anchor that." While retailers will have to make major changes to survive in the post-pandemic world, so, too, will manufacturers and brands that sell products in brick-and-mortar stores. Here are some ways brands will have to adapt their in-store merchandise displays. Hands Off! As Binder told Retail Dive: "Right now, there's fear as customers move through a store. What retailers will have to figure out is how to bring a sense of structure and calm." This fear is already driving consumer decisions when it comes to paying for goods. According to recent studies , consumers will likely prioritize touch-free technology over factors such as rewards from their credit cards in the future. What's more, 55% of U.S. consumers worry about paying with cash. These trends are forcing retailers everywhere to adopt more contactless payment options for people when they check out. This fear of touching something someone else did could have a dramatic effect on how consumers interact with product displays in other retail sectors. The problem for manufacturers, of course, is that the more customers interact with your display , the more likely they are to purchase your product. Manufacturers can adjust by quelling consumers' fear. But how? One way is to integrate motion activated monitors into your retail display. These devices sense when a customer has approached your display, and start playing a video that tells the story or your product, brand or company. You can also use motion sensors in conjunction with lighting to illuminate aspects of your product and/or display that you want consumers to focus on. Motion-sensing technology enables you to create an interactive display without requiring people to touch anything. In addition, a well done video provides the company the ability to disseminate the sales message to customers in the manner they choose. This consistency enables the display to be your best sales person. If the product you sell requires physical interaction -- such as sheets or pillows -- you need to create an environment that is safe and clean, and engenders confi-dence in the consumer. The coronavirus has been proven to live up to 72 hours on materials and surfaces if not treated properly. And while disinfecting is essen-tial, it also takes a lot of time and manpower. That's why it'll be important to integrate some form of automatic disinfectant to your retail display. UV light can be used to blast bacteria and viruses off clothes, bags and other products that shoppers like to touch before they buy. Make it Great! Merchandising has always been vital, but it's going to take on an entirely new level of importance in the future. The coronavirus pandemic hasn't only influenced more people to shop online. It's also affecting how people are shopping in stores when they venture out. There are likely to be fewer overall customers in a store at one time -- either because of a lack of demand or because of a state-imposed limit on capacity. In addition, when customers do shop in store, they're likely to spend less time browsing, focusing instead on getting what they need and getting out. This makes merchandising even more important today. Put plainly, if you're going to take the time to create a merchandise display, you better MAKE IT GREAT! You have a very limited amount of time to tell your story as customers walk about a store. Your retail display, then, needs to capture their attention quickly, draw them in and make them want to interact with that. How do you do that? By following the basic principles of merchandising. Your retail display needs a great header to draw people in. What is your product and what does it do? Are you taking advantage of brand recognition? Etc. You also need to pay attention to the shape of your display, opting for rounded edges that are much more welcoming than rigid shapes such as squares. Usually, shapes will grab a consumer’s attention. Choose colors that match your brand but that are pleasing and soothing to the eye. And don't forget to integrate subtle lighting that highlights your product and doesn't distract from it. You've got to tell your story effectively nowadays. And with retail displays, that means being even more aware of the elements of visual marketing than in the past. Get Smaller Retailers have always aimed to maximize every square inch of their floorspace. They devised the perfect travel patterns for shoppers to navigate their stores, integrating merchandise displays and end caps that caught their attention but didn't stand in the way of the free flow of shoppers. But COVID-19 has dramatically altered the in-store shopping experience. From spit guards set up at registers to separate customers from workers, to clearly marked social distancing boxes on floors, to one-way directional travel in aisles, the name of the game today is "space." The concept of social distancing is built around that word. People are suggested to stay at least six feet away from people who don't live in their households. When indoors at retail stores, agencies such as the CDC have consistently urged people to keep their distance and wear masks. People want to protect their personal space, and there are two ways retailers can help them do that -- by limiting the number of customers in the store at one time, and by opening up floor space so it's easier to create separation. This is forcing manufacturers to be even more cognizant of the size of their retail displays. While the size of retail displays has always mattered, it'll be even more important in the coronavirus world. The less floor space your retail display takes up, the more stores it can fit in -- and the more spots in the store it can be placed. Retailers are going to be very sensi-tive to size as they look to appease their shoppers. The more you can do to help them in that cause, the more likely your display is to get accepted. Manufacturers will soon be faced with a new world when marketing their products on retail displays, if they haven't already. Understanding that change is here, and effectively responding quickly to that change, will be the key to survival.