Of Resilience and Preparedness: Business Trends Post-COVID
What happens after COVID? As the new normal progressively becomes reality, let’s take a look at what happened in the past two years and the changes they made as to how business is run today.
The year 2020 could not have surprised the world more as it unleashed the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the globe. A novel virus that’s airborne and with a set of symptoms that ranged from a lack of a sense of taste and smell to life-threatening pneumonia, it had world leaders’ hackles rising, leading to countries closing borders. At one point, around 91% of the world’s total population lived in countries that put travel restrictions in place due to the virus.
It started a domino of life-changing events, from the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to governments asking people to wear facemasks and avoid social gatherings, as well as restricting, if not fully stopping, business operations.
Countless people lost their jobs as thousands of businesses closed down. Economies around the world experienced an expected dive.
Two years later…
It’s now 2022 and many parts of the world are beginning to move past the trauma of the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries around the world are opening their borders once more for business and leisure. COVID-19 protocols are becoming more lenient enough to begin removing mask mandates in various locations, thus erasing one of the biggest symbols of the pandemic in public spaces.
As a result, a lot of businesses that have been forced to shut down over the past two years are now becoming hopeful enough to try again. They join the new batch of entrepreneurs who have seen the digital business space bloom as a response to the pandemic and are now starting their own online ventures.
As we enter a new phase in history, let’s find out how business will change post-COVID.
Face the future head-on: Post-COVID business trends you should know
Despite the challenges of the previous years, there is no way but forward. Especially for entrepreneurs, the grind never stops.
Businesses that survived the pandemic cannot rest assured but instead create a business continuity plan post-COVID. After all, it is neither the first nor the last crisis that the world will be facing.
Businesses that faired worse should learn from their failures, keep their courage, and start again.
To help both, we’ve listed the new business trends post-COVID that one should know to face the future head-on.
Let’s start with…
Diversification of the supply chain
Pre-COVID, many large businesses like Samsung and Amazon embraced globalization and outsourced their supply or practiced offshoring in countries where labor and production cost them less. These measures ensured them enough profit while allowing them to keep their prices low and affordable for their consumers.
However, this boon suddenly became somewhat of a bane during the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns implemented in the different parts of the globe caused a huge disruption in the supply chain. It became incredibly hard for companies to stock their inventories and coordinate with their offshore labor force.
As a result, order fulfillment services were in limbo with packages getting significantly delayed and possibly spoiled and insignificant once they arrived. Once, goods transit from China to the US took only 40 days via container ship, but in the latter half of 2021, transit took up to 70 days or more.
You might think that localizing the supply chain is the best response post-COVID. You would be wrong.
Localizing the entire supply chain will significantly raise the overall prices of goods, which will, in turn, scare away consumers.
What can be safely done instead is to diversify the supply chain.
This can mean sourcing products and offshoring in different countries/states/locations, possibly with different risk classifications during various crises. It can also include contracting different order fulfillment companies and having a wider network of fulfillment centers. One can opt to store more of the business’s essential supplies as well and add to its cash reserves, if possible, in preparation for a rainy day.
By diversifying their sources, businesses would have higher chances of maintaining at least a portion of their supply chain if and when another crisis arrives.
Improvement of the employee experience
The pandemic has caused many people in the workforce to see just how much their companies cared for them depending on their pandemic response and demands. And with loved ones getting sick or worse, it is not a surprise that employees have come to reassess their priorities.
In 2021, the world bore witness to the “Great Resignation”, a name given to the phenomenon involving an abnormally high number of employee resignations. In a survey report on people who quit their jobs even without another offer waiting, some of the reasons they quit were because of uncaring leaders, unsustainable work performance expectations, lack of support for employee health and well-being, and lack of workplace flexibility (McKinsey & Company).
Now, job seekers and employees are looking for companies that provide a better employee experience, having higher expectations for their prospective employers than they had before the pandemic.
To be able to hire and retain employees, more businesses are expected to offer better perks including but not limited to:
- Higher compensation
- Better health benefits
- Flexible work setups (ex. hybrid, WFH)
- Upskilling opportunities
- Better employee support initiatives during crises
Serving as an example and inspiration is Concentrix, one of the leading BPO companies in the Philippines. It has opted to continue a hybrid setup and allow the majority of its employees to remain working from home in an effort to keep employees happy and satisfied despite losing tax breaks due to technicalities. This earned them praise from members of the workforce who are against or on the fence about return-to-office mandates.
Hybrid/Remote setups
WFH and hybrid setups are being retained post-pandemic.
Employees have long clamored for hybrid or WFH setups even before the pandemic without much success. Then, the pandemic came and forced companies to give in, which in turn, showed them that it could be done.
More and more employees are resigning from companies that are asking them to return to their office, causing a lot of employers to scramble to fill their positions to continue smooth business operations.
On the other hand, companies that have embraced flexible work setups now have a wider pool of skilled employees to choose from. As such, they are able to choose the best and retain them.
Naturally, this doesn’t really bode well for companies whose main business is rentable office spaces. However, flexible work setups can be a great choice for other industries as removing rent and possibly storage fees from the equation lessens business expenses.
Airbnb is one such business that saw the advantages of a flexible work setup and decided to retain it indefinitely for their employees. Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky even shared his prediction that 10 years from now, flexible work setups would become the new normal.
On-demand employees
As businesses re-open after laying off their employees during the pandemic, they now need to rehire. However, they now have to face a generation of workers who are more inclined towards non-traditional and flexible work setups.
In fact, 2021 saw the number of highly educated freelancers in the U.S. increase, with the industry’s total contribution to the U.S. economy reaching $1.3 trillion. That’s $100 million more than their contributions in 2020 (Upwork, 2021).
On-demand employees also offer advantages to employers as it allows them to hire and pay for employees as needed for design, marketing, content, customer service, and other required work for business operations. That’s great, especially for startups that still don’t have the budget to hire full-time employees. It also gives employers a wider selection of talents, skills, and experience, thus letting them find the best person for a job.
Google and Uber are just some of the businesses that take advantage of the benefits of on-demand employees, hiring temporary workers alongside full-time employees.
Adaption of ecommerce
The adaption of ecommerce and the number of digital buyers worldwide have steadily grown over the years. But its importance has never been more apparent than since the COVID-19 pandemic forced physical stores to close down due to movement restrictions implemented by multiple governments across the globe.
During the pandemic, ecommerce became a salvation for buyers stuck at home and in quarantine, allowing for remote shopping on digital platforms and digital payments through various payment gateways like Paypal, Paytm, PayMaya, and the like.
The past two years increased people’s awareness of ecommerce platforms (e.g., online marketplaces, online stores, shopping apps). They also added to people’s knowledge of online businesses and the processes involved in online shopping and selling, both as consumers and entrepreneurs.
Post-COVID, this awareness of ecommerce as a whole is unlikely to go away. And those who have experienced its convenience and advantages are likely to keep online shopping as an option even as traditional retail is starting to come back with COVID-19 restrictions being lifted.
As such, it is in the best interest of businesses to retain their ecommerce sales channels despite reopening their physical stores. Doing so lets their potential customers transact with them in more ways than one. It also allows them to continue enjoying the benefits of ecommerce business solutions including automation of data recording and analysis.
Maintaining a hybrid business setup will also keep them resilient and prepared should another crisis forces them to once again close their physical stores.
The Mood House by TLC, a brand from the Philippines, is one such business that maintains a hybrid setup. Having a pop-up store as well as an ecommerce store on Cafe24 lets it sell to local shoppers and shoppers who prefer to stay at home or live elsewhere during the pandemic and beyond.
Omnichannel retail
Once ecommerce became part of the equation, it became easier for businesses to access and run multiple sales channels online, in addition to their physical stores. And being present on various selling platforms is one way that businesses can ensure that they are able to sell and provide services to any and all potential customers.
An omnichannel business strategy, which involves the use of a variety of online and offline sales channels that provide seamless user experience, has proven effective in keeping businesses afloat despite physical sales channels becoming limited due to COVID-19.
Post-COVID, ecommerce solutions will prove to be popular. As traditional businesses are bouncing back from the pandemic, online stores will remain profitable and ecommerce fulfillment solutions will continue to be convenient and beneficial.
Starbucks, Sephora, Target, and Ikea are just some of the big businesses that adopt an omnichannel approach to leverage their brands in the market. They can be found in physical settings and online through their websites, marketplaces, mobile apps, etc.
Is your business ready for the post-COVID era?
Starting a business post-COVID can be frightening with the world just beginning to get back on its feet. Uncertainty is still looming ahead given the new COVID variants being discovered, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, and the new threats to health and well-being like monkeypox being reported.
That’s why to save yourself from heartache, you have to assess if you and your business are ready for the post-COVID era.
Here are some questions you should ask yourself:
- Is my supply chain diverse enough that I can survive should borders close on one or two of its locations?
- Am I taking care of my employees well enough that they would stay in case of crisis?
- Can my business survive a hybrid work setup should there be no other choice?
- In case of resignations due to crisis, do I have a pool of on-demand employees I can contact?
- Is my business online?
- Do I have enough sales channels that I can survive with one or more of them being inaccessible?
While one cannot expect any business to answer ‘Yes’ to all the questions all at once, especially at the early stages of the venture, it is important for business owners to set goals that would change ‘No’ answers to ‘Yes’ answers. In that way, not only will they be prepared for the post-COVID era, but they will also be ready to face the crises that may still come their way.
Protect your business against future crises
Moving forward, businesses will rely more and more on technology to keep in touch with the modern world and prevent losses during future crises. It provides automation, precision, accessibility, productivity, efficiency, innovation, and ultimately, resiliency.
Technology is what Cafe24 provides.
With its myriad of ecommerce solutions, it lets you and your employees track and manage your business remotely and in real-time. In doing so, it lessens the load off your shoulders by decreasing the need for manual labor through automation and/or optimization of business processes including data collection and analytics, marketing, and logistics.
You can also access ecommerce fulfillment services through our variety of apps and with the help of our partners that provide design, development, and even customer support needs.
And of course, we won’t let you be left behind as we offer omnichannel ecommerce solutions that will help you achieve an omnichannel business strategy. With us, you can sync and sell online on multiple sales channels including online marketplaces, social networking sites, and mobile apps.
Post-COVID, it is best to future-proof your business and be prepared by joining us at Cafe24.
