It is now becoming common knowledge that digitalisation is transforming the whole world, and no company should be left out. Yet there are still many companies that are content with a minimal online presence, not realising how fragile this makes them. After all, as the coronavirus outbreak that has disrupted all our lives has shown, a strong digital presence and proper embedding in the web can save businesses even in the most challenging times.
The time has now come
Different economists predict different ways out of the Covid-19 crisis. Some say V, others W, the more pessimistic say L. But that is not the point, as the alternation between recession and boom is a natural process. What will make this period go down in the history books is that the post-pandemic economy will look very different from the one before. Firms that do not participate in the digital transformation could easily fail, while those that go digital will be more resilient to the challenges of the future.
The benefits of digitisation
The pandemic period showed that 21st century commerce is unimaginable without an electronic presence, as what few expected happened: customers disappeared from shops and workers from the workplace. However, businesses that were already doing web-based commerce, or whose employees could do what they needed to do from home, were not as badly affected, and could even gain a competitive advantage.
Various shops have realised that they can reach customers sitting at home by opening a webshop or improving their existing webstore, online sports centres have started to offer video-based classes, and courier companies have seen unprecedented growth. But building trust for an online store is a relatively long process, and there is already huge competition between different online stores. After all, what online shop has not experienced, once it has been launched, that customers choose the shops that have been on the web for a longer time, even if they are more expensive? It is therefore worth finding the best digital solutions as soon as possible and building a trusted customer base online to gain a competitive advantage.
But what will happen to warehouses and offices in the digital age?
Some warehousing will of course remain, and is expected to become increasingly important as the need to store increasing volumes of goods will continue. However, as office work declines, the number of paper documents will also decline, so the need for filing cabinets may become less and less. As more and more of those workers who only need a computer and a phone to work can afford to work from home, the documents they need for work will also be generated and stored digitally.
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