Covid -19 has come as a reboot that hit the world like a tsunami. This changed the way life existed around us. The grandfather who was happy walking to his local post office to pay bills. Today checks with the grandson to use GPay, PayTM, and other Mobiles Apps in order to pay these bills. Restaurants that were once over-pouring with people and never needed to think about marketing. They have now shifted to being listed on UberEats, Swiggy and Zomato. No one would have expected such emerging business models to be an aftereffect of this pandemic. Which has already claimed over 2.45 lakh lives and infected over 3.5 million people across the world to date.
I have already delved into the economic situation of my hometown Goa in my last article . This unexpected lockdown has helped me ponder on a few emerging business models that could become mainstream. Especially in a post-COVID world struggling to overcome the onslaught of community lifestyle changes.
READ HERE: Impact of Covid-19 on Travel Industry – Focus : Goa
During my time at Munich , I was introduced to the concept of DriveNow . Its is a mobility concept from BMW and MINI. They enable you to drive at low rates and remain flexible without owning a vehicle. Traveling in Paris , allowed me to explore the idea of BlaBlaCar . It is a trusted community marketplace that connects drivers with empty seats to co-travellers looking for a ride. Back here in Benguluru, we have a company like OYORooms . They boast of a portfolio comprising more than 43,000 hotels with over 1 million rooms. Through its vacation homes business, the company offers access to over 130,000 homes around the world. They are currently operating in over 800 cities of 80 countries.
Impacts and Implications for Key Sectors of Industry
Food and Beverages Industry
Most of the Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) and fast-food restaurants have aligned themselves with takeaways and home delivery apps. Cafes are going to be hit largely because the whole selling proposition of these properties was its ambiance and comfort. In a post COVID environment what is going to sell is the product. As such smaller units are going to do well if the focus is shifted to the product.
Healthcare Sector
Post Covid-19 this sector is going to see double digit growths. Specially in the sectors of tele-medicine, home care, medical equipment rentals and home testing facilities. This is one sector that the hospitality sector might tap in to supplement the demand. Considering that the basic tenets of the industry are similar to each other. Companies like PORTEA and SRL Diagnostics have already gained a first mover advantage in these sectors.
Mobility Sector / Transportation Sector
As initially discussed, focus on a shared economy is going to take this sector by storm. Companies like ZoomCar have already institutionalized Self Drive Cars. Drive Now and Car2Go have developed a model that enables you to grab any car using their app. You can pick the available car and drive to any part of the city again. This allows maximum use of Public Transport Systems and solves the key issue of Last Mile Connectivity. On a smaller scale many cities across Europe have invested into Bike Sharing Concepts which work on a similar model. Car sales will definitely be hit by these changes. But many automobile companies have already caught on to the idea of subscriptions, like Mahindra powered by Revv .
Peer to Peer Lending Models, Crowdfunding, Couchsurfing, Ride Sharing, Car Sharing, Co-Working Spaces, Knowledge and Talent Sharing is going to be the ‘new normal’ of a Post-Covid environment
Logistics and FMCG
While this sector has seen the introduction of concepts like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, and Augmented Reality (AR) to increase efficiency and reduce errors. The key change that might be coming soon is lifestyle adaptation to hyper-local supply chains. In order to reduce the time taken from farm to table. The focus is more on healthy options of fresh and organic produce. This may not seem to affect FMCG companies much. But will surely change consumer buying patterns and behavior patterns for agricultural produce. Self-reliance models will work better for hyper-local environments with a focus on speed and trust. Swiggy has already adapted to Grocery Deliveries much better than Zomato. This may remain as a standard feature of the app. Similarly sharing container space on transport routes will be an adaptation of BlaBlaCar in the logistics space of the future.
Travel & Hospitality Sector
Decisions being taken to shut down hotels, restaurants, theme parks, cinemas. Not to mention the entire disruptive effect of the travel ecosystem, all having a significant impact on worldwide tourism. The industry will have to reinvent itself. The focus will move on to concepts like ‘staycation’ and ‘mobile-first’ to get the cash registers ringing again. Future travelers are going to go for concierge apps. As a result personalized reservations and focus on crowdsourced ratings & reviews. This will build a brand image of trust from fellow travelers, making the middleman services like travel agencies and ticketing services go redundant.
The world is about to change and we need to prepare ourselves for the new global environment that is beginning to take shape. Sharing economies and asset light business models will reign supreme in the Post Covid environment
