The Biggest Business Impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic
Reading Time: 5 minutes Coronavirus Pandemic has shaken the whole world from every aspect. People are terrified and homebound; it has become a matter of great concern to step outdoors let alone buy anything. The everyday tasks are now really thought upon and people are only stepping out of their houses when they really need to. Right now, the only priority is to stop the spread of the deadly COVID-19. Scientists and researchers are constantly working towards vaccines and solutions to stop the spread of the virus.
The impact of the pandemic is causing an effect on both the consumer behaviors as well as industries. This global situation has affected the businesses to a great deal and many are suffering a great deal. The economic consequences of the pandemic are huge as it is equally affecting the industries of telecom, information technology, marketing, digital media, banking, and so on.
Table of Contents
Banking
As the pandemic has made movement difficult, people tend to avoid leaving their homes unless it’s an emergency. Most of the people would avoid visiting banks as it can be highly contaminated with hundreds of people visiting banks daily.
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Some of the countries imposing lockdowns have closed down banks and the focus has moved to the provision of online services to the customers. The banks are trying their best to provide digital services so people can conveniently transfer funds without having to leave their houses.
People are now more interested in services that require minimum to no interaction and queries are managed either by e-mails or phone calls. This is an opportunity for people to shift more on online platforms rather than physically visiting the banks. For banks, this time requires them to make their digital procedures friendly and efficient and test how people are finding their online platform experiences.
Fintech industry, however, will be negatively impacted as the emerging trends tell us. People are now less likely to collaborate in new plans that could cause loss due to the on-going situation. The drop in external investments will require Fintechs to focus on a reliable and appropriate business model as per the current situation.
Healthcare Industry
Due to the prevailing situation around the globe, another industry that has been affected is healthcare. This is a tough time for the health care industry in every country as they have to cater to the needs of growing patients every day. The paramedics around the world are working continuously without any breaks. There is an extra burden on health care facilities as now they have to treat the regular patients along with the growing number of virus-infected patients.
This is a tough time for investors to determine the impacts of investing in the health care industry.
Biotechnology is working hard for the vaccine of the virus with no monetary goals around it. COVID-19 has potentially slowed down labs and biotech trails globally, as the attention of the researchers and scientists, is now towards finding the solution of the fatal virus. Patients facing non-critical issues are now made to cancel or postpone their schedules, as exposure to the hospital environment is not safe. In light of the COVID-19 situation, the FDA has announced the postponement of various foreign inspections and researches which has slowed down the operations to a great deal.
Digital Media
Now that people are quarantined, self-isolated, and spending more time indoors, there has been a massive increment in the time people are spending on social media. People are now using digital media even more for almost everything including information and news, staying connected with friends and family, ordering in food and other essential items, banking and transactions, virtual medicine help, purchasing of goods, etc.
Moreover, online streaming channels and entertainment portals are likely to get benefitted as more people spend time indoors. Platforms and services such as Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc. are likely to get more traffic than usual. It is also a peak time for internet providers as people are even more dependent on high-speed internet now. Network providers using outdoor cat5e cables are likely to provide efficient internet services.
The ad spending on digital media is also impacted and would continue to get affected throughout the year because of the situations around the globe. Because of social distancing and self-isolation, now is not the perfect time for media to advertise and spend on ads. Furthermore, several event cancellations have caused advertisers to cancel their advertisements, which could have possibly helped them otherwise.
Consumer behavior
Quarantines around the globe have affected consumer behaviors to a great deal. As the situation continues to become adverse, consumers have become even more cautious and are avoiding stepping out of their houses to shop. It is now out of question to go out for leisure shopping.
People are now trying to go as digital as possible. Most of the countries have completely shut down malls and public places have been closed – something that is very unusual.
Shopping is something that is off from people’s minds right now, as the conditions are getting serious every passing day. People are avoiding physical stores as much as they can and ordering in essential items at their homes using various services available. This situation has led up to a decrease in the consumption of goods around the globe.
Moreover, as a result of panic-buying people are facing shortages of basic household items. People are hoarding food items in fear of lockdowns and closure of markets. Businesses are also sending out notices and e-mails, informing people about the steps they are taking to avoid inconvenience. Most of the businesses have closed down their stores but are still operating online.
Because people are shifting to online purchasing of goods, there is a massive load on delivery systems and delivery times have increased due to the massive burden. The shortage of human resources is also a hurdle in delivering items on time.
According to analysts, this shift in consumer behavior would be long-lasting and the impact of it on businesses isn’t short-term as well. Hence people should get ready for the unusual scenario to continue over a long period.
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