As expected, the pandemic has put an aggressive clot in the economic flow. With many government officials instituting a certain form of community quarantine, it is inevitable that temporary closure of businesses and a decline in consumer activity will lead to a collective economic downturn.
On top of that, this situation also shocked many industries and rushed them in facing the low touch economy head on. Business decisions that normally take months in preparation and implementation have been reduced to days. Most of these changes need investment that not all enterprises have prepared for.
The new normal of the post-pandemic era has drastically changed the value of the industries and their respective outlooks.
But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. While having only days for preparation and implementation, some businesses around the world have managed to do model-altering adjustments to mitigate the detrimental effects of this sudden economic shift. Given the situation, these pivots range from changing the product/service platform to totally abandoning the current business model for a new, more relevant one.
Here are some examples of business model adjustments to inspire ideas for your own:
Live experiences and events-based
- SXS Events is a UK-based event production company. Given this situation, they banked on their expanding video production experience and ventured into producing online education videos for teachers.
- Stagekings, one of Australia’s stage and set-building companies, has pivoted its construction capability to building isolation desks for people working at home.
- Encore is a booking agency for musicians and artists in UK and Ireland. They’ve started offering personalized music messages from their roster.
- GroundUP is an American music label who now offer masterclasses featuring their artists. This will also soon be a potential platform for them to engage audiences in the new normal.
- Stand-alone theaters are shifting to outdoor/drive-in cinema where physical distancing can be implemented better.
- Some event production companies are helping organizations and personalities new to teleconferencing and live videos produce their events online.
Food and Retail
- Bread Ahead is a bakery in UK switching to online breadmaking workshops and deliveries for those who are staying at home.
- Wayland’s Yard, a brick-and-mortar cafe, has shifted to offering recipe cards of their most popular recipes with boxes of their ingredients.
- Mediamatic ETEN, a restaurant in Amsterdam, is now serving food to diners while they sit in quarantine greenhouses.
- Overnight, Mexican supermarket chain Merco launched an initiative partnering with taxi drivers to fulfill and deliver orders sent by customers online.
- Fastfood giant Jollibee started offering ready-to-cook versions of their popular staples for a limited time so that those staying at home can still enjoy these meals
Beverage
- Boozi is an Australian mobile bar that has recently shifted to offering liquor online and delivering these straight to customers.
- Filipino conglomerate San Miguel Corporation, which owns liquor brand Ginebra, has repurposed its plant to produce ethyl alcohol for medical use.
Beauty
- The South African office of Granadilla, a company that sells swimwear, started selling produce online and offering delivery service.
- Ellana Cosmetics has turned its retail workforce into telesales, supporting its ecommerce division.
- Chinese cosmetics company Lin Qingxuan has redeployed its retail staff to become online influencers to engage consumers with digital tools and drive ecommerce sales.
Services
- After enduring the effects of the pandemic, Airbnb has worked with its network of hosts to migrate their experiences online.
- WithLocals is an experiential travel company which started moving its private, personalized tours to online experiences.
- Once Again Hostel hosts Thai hostels for travelers. It recently pivoted to using its hostels as a drop zone for delivering food from local vendors to customers ordering online.
- Gympass is an online platform that connects customers to physical gyms. They’ve launched a new digital feature allowing live fitness sessions from home.
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