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Will Covid-19 Fuel a Surge in Digital Business?
Rebecca Appleton • 17 June 2020
Are Entrepreneurs The Ones Who Will Thrive Post-Coronavirus?
Throughout history, it’s very clear that times of hardship, recessions, mass illness and war, have all lead to innovations in various areas. Times of difficulty fuel the fire for change and often reveal areas of weakness or improvement in our systems and approaches. In the same way that the deadly SARS virus greatly accelerated the digital business and ecommerce sectors in Asia, are we going to see another jump toward digital commerce replacing physical contact in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic?
There is no doubt that while lockdowns across the globe may gradually be lifting as we wave goodbye to what we all hope are the darkest days of coronavirus, it will be some time before comfort returns to ‘normal’. We use normal loosely as it is highly likely that what we used to consider normal may never entirely return. It seems increasingly less likely that some of the measures our society has put in place to manage the spread of this individual virus will be entirely removed from the physical commerce scene.
Take some of the simple examples, including the physical shields at checkouts throughout the country at petrol stations, supermarkets and shops. With the new heightened awareness of both consumers and retail employers alike when it comes to contact hygiene and safety, it makes little sense for these to be removed. Likewise, the capacity limit on physical stores is another change that will have benefits beyond simply disease control. It is highly anticipated that we’ll have to get used to queuing outside stores and having little to no physical contact with commerce staff for the foreseeable future.
In these extreme times of change, it is the businesses and entrepreneurs who successfully ensure their business is digitised and offers options for service and supply that call for the least possible direct human interaction who will thrive. Ecommerce sales are likely to remain high post the ‘spike’ we have seen during lockdown despite stores reopening. Demand for delivery services, particularly in the food industry will likely also continue to remain high. This is born out by various surveys and polls, with many shoppers saying they won’t immediately return to in-store experiences and plenty more saying they’ll continue to get what they can online even as physical experiences become available once again.
Entrepreneurs with the ability to create brands and businesses with highly effective digital levels of service and supply will be the businesses who survive and thrive in the post Covid-19 world, even when all the official lockdown regulations have ceased. How digital ready is your business and are you doing everything you can to ensure this element of your company is seamless and user friendly?
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