How to turn the challenge of COVID-19 into a digitalization opportunity?

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EBOOK
HOW TO TURN THE CHALLENGE OF COVID-19 INTO A
DIGITALIZATION OPPORTUNITY
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Which are the worst, the least and the positively
affected industries?
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The on-demand industry
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The entertainment and media industry
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The online education industry
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How the available digitalization technologies can
help you survive the worst of the pandemic
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HOW TO TURN THE CHALLENGE OF COVID-19 INTO A
DIGITALIZATION OPPORTUNITY
The Covid-19 outbreak took the world by surprise.
No industry has been left untouched. Some have
gained, many have lost. For example, the airlines
industry stands to lose 113 billion in 2020. The
tourist industry just in the US is projected to
lose 25 billion just from tourism spending. By
mid-March, the National Restaurant Association in
the US predicted that just in three months, the
restaurant industry may lose 225 billion.
The losses faced by other industries are The
global sports industry 600 billion The ad
industry associated with the sports industry 26
billion Oil industry demand fell by 57 The
list goes on. According to a McKinsey report,
just in six weeks after March 14, 2020, the
unemployment claims reached 30 million in the US.
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Which are the worst, the least and the
positively affected industries? This table gives
you a birds eye view
S No Severe High Moderate Positive
1 Gems Jewellery Retail Non-food Items Drugs Pharma Remote Working Applications
2 Entertainment Wholesale Trade Automotive Over the Top Media Service
3 Hospitality Electronics Textile Online Gaming
4 Transport Banking Metals E-education
5 Livestock MSMEs
6 Tourism
As you can see, the industries that stand to
bene?t from the situation brought about The
on-demand industry The entertainment and media
industry The online education industry The
online coaching industry These industries are
bene?ting because of their positioning as well as
the convenience that they provide during the
times of social distancing and stay-at- home
work culture.
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The on-demand industry The on-demand industry
thrives on products and services that can be
delivered to customers and clients without them
having to step out of their homes. These include
Food delivery
Groceries, vegetables, other eatable items
Laundry services
Healthcare through video conferencing
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Medicines Video on demand and basically, every
product or service that can be delivered without
human to human contact. The delivery person can
simply leave the item at the doorstep and move
away. Then the item can be picked by the
household members without coming in contact with
the delivery person. If they want, they can leave
the item at an isolated place in their house for
a couple of days before using it. The
entertainment and media industry The world of
entertainment and media consumption has been
rapidly moving towards digital consumption for
many years now. The need to stay-at-home and ?nd
avenues for entertainment without stepping
outside has given a big push to streaming and
video sharing services. The following services
have experienced a big surge
51 35
32 30
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The online education industry It is the
institution of conventional education like
schools and colleges that have experienced the
biggest thrust towards digitalization during the
Covid-19 times. Students, especially school going
kids, are highly vulnerable and most of the
parents dont want to send their kids to schools.
At the same time, neither schools nor the
parents want the kids to neglect their
studies. Most of the schools are taking online
classes using services like G Suite for
Education. Colleges are broadcasting online
classes through online video services and
collaboration tools. Wherever instruction is
possible online, it is being provided. Gyms are
imparting online ?tness training. Yoga dance
classes are being provided online. Most of the
tutor services are delivering online
classes. Consequently, peer-to-peer video
conferencing apps are growing in leaps and
bounds. Some of the video conferencing apps and
the growth that they have experienced are listed
below
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85 66
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How the available digitalization technologies
can help you survive the worst of the
pandemic The biggest impact of the Covid-19
pandemic has been that people are unable to
commute and go to of?ces and other places of
work. People are not thronging at entertainment
centers such as cinema halls and sports stadiums.
They are not visiting malls and shops. They
dont want to use public transport. Its like the
dominos everything is impacting everything
else. As mentioned above, many industries are
leveraging the on- demand app trends as well as
online education facilities to not just carry on
their businesses, but in many cases, even thrive
and ?nd new growth opportunities that were
previously unavailable due to geographical
constraints and logistical hurdles. Although not
every aspect of your business can be
digitalized, there are many that can be. Some
technological options available to you
are Remote working/telecommuting Cloud-enabled
applications including online payments Digital
business communication platforms Virtual
collaboration platforms Business analytics
tools Frankly, for most of the businesses hit by
the Covid-19 pandemic, it is a now or never
situation. The world has been hit by colossal
pandemics throughout human history. This time, we
are fortunate enough as far as businesses go
to not to be sitting ducks. There are many
options available to us that can help us not just
survive through these dif?cult times, but also
thrive and maybe, change the directions of how
we work and deliver our products and services,
forever. Below we are going to discuss some
technologies that can help you through
digitalization. Many of these technologies, one
way or another, you may have already been using.
So far, they have existed on the periphery. For
many businesses, they have been optional. Now
they are proving to be essential.
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The digital assets that you will need for
digitalizing your business Essential tools Google
My Business Facebook Messenger WhatsApp for
Business Essential tools A website A mobile app
(Android iOS) Business CRM Online payment
platforms Chat bot implementation Deep analysis
of business Here is how these tools help you
increase your visibility and make it easier for
your prospective customers and clients to ?nd
you. Google My Business Makes it easier for
people to ?nd you locally. When they search for
your service or product, your business appears
on Google Maps. People can rate your business.
They can also leave reviews. This improves your
local search engine rankings. You get insights
such as how many people saw your listings, how
many people called you and how many times your
listings appeared in front of people. Its free
and easy to use. Once your business address is
veri?ed by Google, your listing becomes visible.
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Facebook Messenger Almost everybody who uses
Facebook uses Facebook Messenger. You can also
use Facebook Messenger for business. You can
connect the Messenger to your Facebook business
page and when you run promotional campaigns on
Facebook, your prospective customers and clients
can directly contact you using Facebook
Messenger.
You can also use chat bots (automated replies) on
Facebook Messenger so that your customers and
clients can get support automatically without
having to raise support tickets. WhatsApp for
Business This is a separate application from the
usual instant messaging app that you have been
using so far.
You can create a complete business pro?le. You
can use its automation features that work like
an auto responder. For example, if someone asks
what is your most affordable web design
package?, a pre-prepared reply can be sent with
the package details.
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A website Frankly, very few businesses remain
without a website, but still, if you havent
built a website for your business yet, now is the
right time.
When people search for information on Google, how
do they ?nd you? If you dont have a website,
how does Google index your business? Sure, we
have talked about Google My Business above, but
what if your business is not local or what if
many local businesses are competing for
visibility? Your website can give you an
advantage. It increases your online visibility,
and online visibility is something that matters
the most during the pandemic when everyone is
searching for products and services online. Best
of all, people can buy from you through your
website. A mobile app A mobile app is dedicated
to bridging the gap between your
customers/clients and your business. If you are
a retail store, people can buy from you through
your mobile app. If you are a publishing house,
people can consume your content through your
mobile app. If you provide online classes, your
students and participants can attend your
classes through your mobile app.
Even if you dont want to do direct business from
your mobile app, you can use your mobile app for
branding. For example, you can have a mobile game
to engage your customers and clients and then
through a reward system, you can encourage them
to buy from you.
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Business CRM Many businesses are scrapping the
bottom of the barrel for customers and clients.
Hence, it becomes absolutely necessary to manage
your customers and clients in an engaging manner
and a business CRM (customer relationship
management) can go a long way.
Constant communication is very important. Your
CRM allows you to automate many communication
processes so that your customers and clients are
constantly engaged. You can provide better
customer service. You can take care of individual
customer and client. You can send them product
offers based on their previous buying
history. Online payment platforms You certainly
want your customers and clients to pay you.
Conventional currency is anyway discouraged
during the pandemic. More than that, when people
are doing business with you remotely, they
should be able to pay you remotely.
There are many platforms available to you such as
PayPal, PayTM, Amazon Pay, Google Pay and
Stripe. Of course, if you have a website or a
mobile app, these payment platforms need to be
integrated with that for interface as well as for
processing.
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Chatbot implementation Chat bots are available on
instant messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger
and WhatsApp for Business. They can also be
implemented on your website. Once you have
installed the chat software on your website, your
chatbot uses arti?cial intelligence and machine
learning to provide accurate answers to peoples
questions.
Deep analysis of your business Technology,
especially digitalization, gives you deep
analysis capabilities. You can measure every
aspect of your digital activities including how
many people visit your website or use your
mobile app, which function of your website or
mobile app do they use the most, which portions
of your website or mobile app send them away and
such. Through deep analysis, you can make
strategic decisions to improve your business
prospects.
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Conclusion Do you own a food shop? Do you manage
a grocery, pharmacy or a laundry outlet? Is your
business suffering due to the Covid pandemic?
There is no need for your business to suffer.
You can use an on-demand mobile app to enable
your customers to do business with you without
having to visit your shop.
Similarly, if you are an educational institution
such as a school or college, you can easily
provide online training and carry on with the
curriculum using video on- demand delivery and
other collaboration tools. DCI has been helping
businesses during these trying times to embrace
digitalization and turn many challenges into
unprecedented opportunities. Need more
information on how you can save your business
through digitalization?
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