How businesses are adapting to the COVID economy
The COVID-19 pandemic has roiled business, particularly in face-to-face service industries. But some companies are managing to rise above the disruption and adapt to the new normal. Here are some key ways businesses have transformed their operations.
Adopting omni-channel retail
The digital transformation does not mean the end of physical stores. Surveys find that most shoppers prefer some aspects of shopping in person. Indeed, several of the top hiring firms since the start of the pandemic — Lowe’s, Home Depot, Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods — have been retailers at the forefront of integrating physical and online stores.
Omni-channel shopping models allow customers to browse products, order and pay online; see whether local stores have inventory available and choose to pick up purchases in person; opt to have goods unpackaged and assembled by in-store technicians; and make in-store returns and exchanges. The acceleration of integration
across digital and physical channels spurred by COVID-19 could help retailers get the most out of each one, during the pandemic and after.
Providing services outdoors
In many cities, rules regulating outdoor dining have made it difficult for restaurants to set up tables outdoors. The pandemic has led city governments to relax those regulations substantially, cordon off parking lanes and allow restaurants, stores, gyms and religious organizations to take over sidewalks and parking spaces.
Providing services in homes
If you can’t go to the gym, the salon or school, bring the trainer, stylist or teacher to your home. Before COVID-19, that would have seemed like a solution only for the very wealthy. But pandemic-related job losses and business closures have encouraged many Americans to offer in-home services more widely, whether to individuals or small groups of neighbors, spreading the word via social media and freelancing platforms.
It is unclear how durable this trend will be. But there will likely be some Americans who become accustomed to the convenience of in-home services and are prepared to pay more for them after the pandemic is over.
Pivoting to new products and services
At the start of the pandemic, major automobile, aerospace and plasticware manufacturers converted their production lines to make ventilators, face shields, plexiglass screens and COVID-19 test kits. Clothing companies raced to produce surgical masks and hospital gowns. And beverage companies started producing hand sanitizer.
Since then, many businesses have found opportunity in the crisis by switching to manufacturing, selling or leasing goods for which demand has surged. Some examples include dumbbells, beard trimmers, exercise bikes, yoga pants and RVs. Other businesses have started offering in-demand services, like bicycle repair, tent rental, video game console refurbishment and tutoring.