Developing economies that held brick and mortar stores close to their hearts suffered perhaps the greatest blow due to the coronavirus pandemic. As markets were forced to close due to the lockdown, revenues fell and many stores even were kicked out of the business. J.Crew, Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penny, Gold’s Gym, and True Religion Apparel are few of the many brands that filed for bankruptcy. The pandemic has changed our lifestyles more than including masks and a hand-wash routine. It has changed how we do business.
While businesses were closing down and businessmen were facing the heat of this pandemic, there were many businesses which were born out of the ashes. Brilliant minds that were busy finding solutions to this problem came into action. Developing economies which depended completely on the brick and mortar store model realized how going digital was necessary in the changing world. While brick and mortar stores were feeling the heat, e-commerce stores and business models were booming. Covid-19 has shifted the way we do business forever but in developing economies, this change was felt on another level. Each and every businessman realized the value of going digital. Those who already had a digital model in place weren’t worried. For example, an e-commerce store didn’t get hurt by the pandemic, it gained from it. The importance of being digital in this pandemic was realized when most of the world’s richest individuals declined in their wealth; Jeff Bezos is becoming richer every minute. On 20th July, he added $13 billion to his net worth which was a record addition. What does Jeff Bezos do? He owns Amazon, a business based on the e-commerce model. This example is enough to explain how the digital model of business has emerged victorious in the present and the future to come. Throughout developing economies, start-ups sprung up. Grocery stores, food-delivery services, medicine delivery services came into being looking at the need of the hour. Covid-19 gave digital transformation a push in developing countries. Countries where the internet wasn’t being used to its full potential are now reaping the benefits of countless opportunities that the internet provides. Classes have shifted online; offices too are closed and have now shifted to a digital set up of work from home. Developing economies were unintentionally pushed into this digital transformation. If not for this pandemic, this transformation might have taken ages to come into reality. This pandemic acted as an accelerator to the digital transformation program. An accelerator program that shifted businesses entirely. The way they function along with the way they think and act has now been influenced by this pandemic and the only solution is going digital.
Digital is now the future and developing economies have realized that this digital push is what they needed to explore different avenues for their business. Having an e-commerce store that functions without any real physical existence and provides services and products online without having customers to step out into the markets is what today’s world requires.