14 Founders Shared Opinions on how Industry and Customer Behavior will Change after Coronavirus Fight

Covid-19
Ashwini Atish Ranjan Das

Ashwini, Atish Ranjan Das

— 7 min read
14 Founders Shared Opinions on how Industry and Customer Behavior will Change after Coronavirus Fight

Covid-19, which has shaken the whole world has brought everyone's life at halt. This highly contagious disease is spreading so fast that Indian Government has ordered 1.3 billion residents to stay home. In this lockdown period, all malls, theaters, companies, shops, restaurants, manufacturing units are shut. This will affect businesses and economy badly. Many companies have told their employees to work from home. But, its not possible for all companies like manufacturing units, theaters, malls to let their employees work from home.

People are also scared of going out. This coronavirus has made people's lifestyle slow and it will take time for everyone including companies to come back on track after this long period of lock down. COVID-19 has put slowdown to a business everywhere. Travel, Hotel, Events, and Entertainment are the sectors that are suffering. But on the other hand, other sectors such as eCommerce, EduTech have benefited immensely.

How Industry and Customer Behavior will Change after Coronavirus Fight? 

We have asked few companies about changes in industry and customer behavior with respect to their company after this coronavirus outbreak.  

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Rising Sun

Pooja Nagdev, Founder and CEO

At this time people have become more aware and going back to the basics. I see that with respect to FMCG ethical labelling will be enforced and people will more watchful of the ingredients they are consuming. The trend for natural and organic care will be the rise.

Indi Collage

Anuradha Singh

At the moment people are more inclined towards online shopping but once the epidemic comes under control we expect to see more of experience based buying & shopping as a social interaction

Tres'Chic Academe

Chitra Balasubramaniam, CEO

Since we operate online most of the time doing business the customer satisfaction is high & this corona virus situation has made us realise our step taking our business online earlier & given us good dividends by doing so.

CASA EXOTIQUE

Bhawana Bhatnagar, Interior Stylist, Founder

There is no denying that business has taken a real hit because of the spread of this menacing disease. Many business firms are closing their stores, and numerous art and design fairs have been either canceled, postponed, or their upcoming plans have been modified. Moreover, due to the hindrance brought about in the global business, overseas procurement has become impossible. Due to this, the supply chain is going to be affected and this will change the dynamics of business. Customers are looking at products customized for them, made locally by us.

MyStarHub

Swapnil Mahajan, Founder & CEO

Well, we are already experiencing a shift from traditional gifts to personalized online gifting due to the digital revolution. With isolation being the key preventive measure in checking the spread of Coronavirus, digital gifting solutions will certainly get a boost.

While celebrations have been put on hold and people are staying indoors, getting a personalized video message from one’s favorite star on a special occasion will be a unique gift to cast off gloom in the environment and bring some cheerful moments to make the day memorable. Especially in the current scenario, being able to send and receive these celebrity video shoutouts that too without any fear of being exposed to the virus will gain popularity to keep the celebratory spirit on.

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Team Pumpkin

Ranjeet Kumar, Co-founder

Just like every other industry, the digital media and advertising sector is also strongly impacted by the virus outbreak. Since consumers are locking themselves indoors to stay safe and social distancing has become the norm of the day, there is a likely boost expected in the consumption of content online. Internet penetration has already taken B2C marketing online, the isolation mandate due to COVID-19 will now de-popularize out-of-home advertisement and also lead B2B ad turn towards digital.

As people keep avoiding social gatherings and public places, they eventually would rely more on social media and therefore, the digital media consumption will increase significantly. Social networking platforms will shine even brighter during the need to stay connected and access content. And above all, digital marketing will provide immense opportunities for businesses to create leads without traveling and having any face-to-face interactions.

Ozonetel

Chaitanya Chokkareddy, Co-founder & Chief Innovative Officer

We are already seeing many companies curious to understand how the work from home model can work for their industry. We have executed Work From Home facility for Acko General within a quick time span. We do think this might act as a point where companies start thinking about their backup for remote functioning.

Dineout

Ankit Mehrotra, Co-founder & CEO

The pandemic has severely affected our operations and we’re seeing a heavy downfall in demand of our services at the moment. Social gathering is the key to our industry, while social distancing is the key to fighting this virus today and we’re strongly promoting it on all our platforms.  

While we are not sure of the full consequences of the ongoing crises, this is certainly going to affect consumer behaviour as far as the F&B industry is concerned. Consumers will take some time to gain the confidence to go out again. The key is to provide for the safety and confidence for our diners once the pandemic subsides. We need to go above and beyond to make customers feel safe and engaging with them over the topic. A slew of measures can be taken as per the protocol prescribed by the Health Ministry, including increased access to hand sanitizers and hygiene procedures, body temperature checks for everyone at the premises, etc.

Meanwhile, we stand strong with our partners and are hopeful and positive for the betterment of the situation. We shall be ready with the help of technology to help serve both our diners and restaurants stronger and better than ever.

Packman Packaging

Gaurav Jalan, Director and Founder

It is too early to say currently, the industry is still operating as much as it can. But if it becomes a prolonged situation then there might be some issues but they will be temporary not permanent.

There might be a possibilities that sales of packaging materials may dip a bit because of several advisory such as not going outside a designated territory in that case several businesses that uses packaging materials will be affected.

One may also see rise in online sales that may still boost the packaging industry as it will open an avenue for supplying their products to several e-business platforms.

For Packman, their customers are the assets so it will ensure that it can continue its services to its clients and customers. In general one should be prepared and monitor where the company and industry will go in these tumultous times. Customers also understand what is going on so we are sure that our customer will still view us in the same light as they do.

Bridged.co

Ashwin Chalam, CEO

We expect potential and present clients to become conservative with their expenses. Businesses will not be looking to experiment much (with good reason) and will only want to work with teams that have a proven track record and can satisfy critical requirements.

The coronavirus outbreak doesn't change the fact that businesses are in the information age, and they will need access to high-quality data. Bridged's USP is that we provide businesses across industries (primarily AI/ML and financial services) with a cost-effective and scalable data solution. During these trying times, we will leverage that.

Zolostays

Dr. Nikhil Sikri, CEO & Co-Founder

With respect to the co-living space that we operate in, we will most likely see a decline in the number of bookings as this is a pandemic situation which has been declared by the World Health Organization and social distancing is the need of the hour. However, we do have single room occupancy which could also have higher response rate for our prospective customers and existing residents to shift into.

CarveNiche

Avneet Makkar, Founder & CEO

The online education market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 44% between financial years 2019 and 2024, these trends are expected to disrupt the industry going forward. Keeping current trends in mind, ed-tech services will offer immersive and industry-specific learning across larger groups. Online learning and personalization of education will garner prime importance.

ZEUX Innovation

Hemal Gathani, Co-founder

Post the COVID pandemic, we will see the world becoming even flatter. COVID will teach people how to work remotely. And companies would want to take advantage of the best available talent from across the globe at the right price with the location not being a factor.

We will also see a surge in spending on digital initiatives. Industries would want to digitize everything possible. But going digital won't be a differentiating factor and won't necessarily lead them to success. Companies that provide the best user experience on digital channels will take a lead.

This is the time to invest in enabling best in class user experience as not only businesses will be compelled to go digital but there will be a massive shift in user behavior to do more things online.

Tjori

Mansi Gupta, Founder & CEO

The most important thing is to inform the customers about the exact reality of the scenario and give guarantees and assurances about the safe guarding of their money and products. Nobody loses anything because of this and all people need to realise that we are just at a halt for the next 21 days’ post which all activities would resume better than normal.

The pre planning done at any situation always help the company and we are also banking on ours, but at this unforeseen times we solve every problem as it comes. Through this platform I wish to advice people to stay indoors and safe.

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