Читать книгу Diversity, Equity & Inclusion For Dummies - Dr. Shirley Davis - Страница 48

The COVID-19 pandemic was a major contributor to the surge in digitization. The slowdown/shutdown of major economies forced people inside and onto their devices for ordering food and household items, staying connected with family and friends, and even attending events. The pandemic crisis accelerated the rate of digital interactions between consumers and customer service, leading to a shift in product offerings. Across the globe, digital or digitally enhanced product offerings increased ahead of the normal curve thanks to the pandemic-boosted demand for goods and services. And this trend won’t subside as companies look to capitalize off it.

The shift in this demographic trend isn’t just focused on one locale or region. Between 2018 and 2020, double-digit increases in digital offerings impacted the globe:

 Global digital acceleration: 38 percent

 Asia-Pacific: 24 percent

 Europe: 26 percent

 North America: 40 percent

This uptick suggests that companies have focused on how they deliver their products through digital platforms as opposed to increasing overall product development. It also implies that digitally based products have increased and will continue to abound in the marketplace.

These industries most impacted by this digital offering trend experienced double-digit growth in digitization:

 Healthcare (think about the rise in telehealth/web-based video conference doctor appointments)

 Pharmaceutical

 Financial services (think about how more banks widened their digital platforms for service and about the increase in nontraditional banking such as CashApp, Venmo, Chime, and cryptocurrency)

 Professional services

 Hospitality and restaurant industries

Consumer goods manufacturing and the automotive industry also saw consistent (but smaller-scale) growth.

Core internal operations such as back-office procedures, production, and research also experienced an increase in digitization and supply chain. Companies also noted that their responses to COVID-19-related changes were 20 to 25 percent faster than expected. And companies moved remarkably quickly to transition to remote working, averaging 11 days to make the shift. Digital connections clearly made this speedy transition possible.