With Coronavirus having a growing impact on the global economy, Pandea’s Tech Team looks at what to watch for in tech, digital marketing, banking and digital health.
Telecoms & Technology
- The clearest and most immediate business impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been a major disruption to prominent technology company supply chains, as a result of partial or full closure of factories used.
- The spread of coronavirus has caused several of the most important tech conferences to be cancelled, likely resulting in numerous missed partnership opportunities. However, Online alternatives have helped mitigate the fallout from cancelled conferences.
- The growing need for remote interactions amid the coronavirus pandemic has also highlighted a need for 5G technology, potentially accelerating adoption in the long term.
Digital Media
- The dampening of worldwide ad spend could occur as companies look to mitigate economic losses, out-of-home advertising spend is cut as a result of social distancing, and event and live sport cancellations lead to advertisers missing out on crucial, reliable opportunities.
- However, the spread of coronavirus is likely to boost digital media consumption across the board as people spend more time at home, making social media and online entertainment platforms huge beneficiaries. In-person event cancellations will spur marketers to explore digital alternatives and more event-like content promotion, with additional focus on maintaining personalisation over the entire course of the buyer journey.
Payments
- Cashless payment adoption and usage, as advised by the World Health Organisation to limit the spread of the virus, could tick-up worldwide. Measures to restrict cash could boost noncash payments, which are already expected to grow at a 10.5% CAGR from 2019 to 2024, particularly if similar measures are implemented in markets with heavier cash usage than in China and South Korea.
- Ecommerce and delivery services are likely to grow as consumers eschew physical stores and crowded gathering places. The new onslaught of customers may lead to logistical problems and companies will have to work to maintain consumer trust.
- While individual sectors are likely to grow, payments companies are anticipating an overall downturn in business as consumer spending falls.
Fintech
- Fintech funding totals will be down for Q1 2020; a dry spell that could potentially persist through a large chunk of the year. As the stock market continues to fluctuate, consumers will be wary of investing and flock to savings options. If consumers reduce their spending, more small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) might have to turn to loans to bridge the demand gap, giving alternative lenders an opportunity to boost their businesses.
Banking
- A potential drop in branch visits will demonstrate banks’ digital capabilities and customer experiences. This migration to non-branch channels will benefit banks that enable customers to handle a wide range of banking functions through online or phone channels while hurting those with more limited offerings, and it will test their ability to handle the increased strain of higher volume.
- Falling central bank interest rates are likely to hurt savings account interest rates that some banks rely on to acquire customers and drive deposits.
Healthcare
- Digital health firms have an opportunity to fill in gaps in care and assist healthcare incumbents prepare for, contain and diagnose coronavirus.
- Telemedicine providers are extending the reach of healthcare professionals as patients are being advised to seek care from the comfort of their homes. Companies touting AI-powered remote monitoring tools are granting clinicians the ability to keep track of patients’ health from afar in real time.
- Health tech firms are implementing alert systems that grant doctors access to the latest updates on the coronavirus without needing to leave their normal workflows.
- Cloud developers have a chance to tie up with researchers and drug makers scrambling to develop a coronavirus vaccine.