The Importance
It was the right time to accelerate the development of the digital tools and technologies that can help neutralize or at least mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19. Moreover, in the post-COVID recovery phase, digitization is undoubtedly essential for citizens and communities to return to normality in the world.
At the same time, the restrictions imposed by COVID-19 have also disrupted the business world. Therefore, companies had to revise their strategies in order to overcome the crisis.
Many business leaders decided to launch digital transformation initiatives in order to keep businesses running during the outbreak, but also to better prepare for the recovery phase. However, generating change in a chaotic period is difficult for both managers and employees, and businesses used this time in their advantage in order to accelerate the transition to digital transformation.
The Reasons
The most frequent negative effects of the virus on the business environment could be summed up by the decline in sales performance, the inability to resume production and the impossibility to provide customer visits.
Some positive aspects that emerged from this crisis were the improvement of collaboration in the work from home, the increasing capacity to develop online businesses, as well as the widespread recognition of the value of IT and digital technology among employees, customers or suppliers and the stakeholders at large.
There are many reasons why small businesses need digitization to help survive the Covid-19 Pandemic. Considering the pandemic which has driven consumers online even more than before the pandemic began. Businesses keeping up with their digitization helped ensure a positive in the future and which has helped in the following areas:
• Communication
• Branding
• Focus
• Financial Benefits
In other words, the COVID-19 crisis provided a quick insight into a future world, in which digital has become essential to every interaction and automated processes have become a major driver of productivity.
The ways in which companies learn how to drive new digital initiatives and adapt to today’s crisis which influenced their performance in tomorrow’s changed world.
Conclusion
Business digitization reduces operating costs up to 20% and improves efficiency. It also enables efficient cost management that implies a more effective control of production and sale processes. Digitization also allows companies to create new business models and revenue sources.
Creating digital markets and boosting digitization yielded significant economic benefits and lead to substantial social benefits to societies and communities in the world. Digitization has the potential to boost productivity, create new jobs, and enhance the quality of life for society at large.
The Author
Olasunkanmi Aremu is an intern at International Institute of Digital marketing – IIDM for the Digital Marketing Master licenced program. He is a recent graduate holding a bachelor of science degree in Business Administration, loves to write and has been interested in the Digital marketing world since the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.