Business Impact
Business Impact
Business Impact
Coronavirus Pandemic
eMarketer and BII analysts identify what to watch for in tech, digital marketing,
banking and digital health
Article | Mar 14, 2020 | 22 min read
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C
oronavirus is shaking up business and consumer
behavior on a massive scale. Both the public and private
sectors are scrambling to slow the spread of the illness and contain
COVID-19 infections. While the full economic consequences of this
black swan event are still unclear, we know that the effects that the
virus—and the drastic measures being taken to contain it—are already
precipitating change across industries. Here are the top three ways
Business Insider Intelligence and eMarketer analysts think the
pandemic is set to impact telecoms and technology, digital media,
payments and commerce, fintech, banking, and healthcare.
Telehealth: The technical superiority of the new standard empowers
physicians to diagnose, treat and operate on patients without the need to
be physically near them. We've already seen such use cases for 5G to
combat coronavirus in China: In January, telecoms ZTE and China
Telecom designed a 5G-powered system that enables remote
consultations and diagnoses of the virus by connecting physicians at West
China Hospital to 27 hospitals treating infected patients. Given the ability
of 5G to expand the reach of expertise and services offered by hospitals in
this time of increased need, we expect more hospitals will look to tap into
5G to take advantage of the benefits offered by the new standard.
Teleconferencing: Many employers have increased their reliance on
enterprise teleconferencing tools—such as Microsoft Teams, Google
Hangouts and Zoom—as their employees switch to remote work due to
public health concerns. We expect that employers' dependence on such
tools during the coronavirus pandemic will strengthen the case for 5G
connectivity in the home—and in the office as enterprises recognize the
value that teleconferencing tools offer. That's because a 5G connection
will be able to provide real-time and uninterrupted communication that's
not possible with most wired connections today.
Digital Media
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Marketers are exploring the potential of virtual events. Even outside
of the current context, digital conferences have some advantages over in-
person events—they're easily scalable, and the hosts can have greater
control over the proceedings. And early evidence suggests consumers
and clients are willing to attend less high-profile virtual events: Virtual
exhibition platform V-Ex reported that over 50,000 people have recently
visited its online digital trade shows and sales environments. Over the
next few months, Adobe, Facebook, Google and YouTube will all host
virtual versions of their popular conferences, which should give us a better
sense of the format's potential as a replacement.
Payments
1. Fintech funding totals will be down for Q1 2020—a dry spell that
could potentially persist through a large chunk of the year. Global
fintech funding was up 30% in 2019 (when excluding Ant Financial's
unusually large $14 billion round in 2018), but as the virus slows down
economies globally, 2020 levels may come in far lower. Fintechs
should prepare for a less funding-friendly environment in 2020,
especially with the magnitude of the coronavirus still being unclear, as
investors will likely fly toward safety amid the economic uncertainty—
and away from the relatively riskier venture of investing in startups.
They can brace themselves by shifting focus to a more sustainable
business model that isn't reliant on the constant influx of external
investor money.
2. As the stock market continues to fluctuate, consumers will be
wary of investing and flock to savings options. Stock markets have
been highly volatile in the past few weeks, largely due to the
coronavirus, while many fear a global recession. And the Federal
Reserve has already implemented an emergency rate cut—marking
the biggest one-time cut in the US since the financial crisis—indicating
that the virus is already impacting the economy. Amid such volatility,
consumers may be less keen to invest their savings in the stock
market, impacting digital wealth managers that conventionally make
money by charging customers fees that are a percentage of assets
under management. On the flip side, more consumers might seek out
savings options for their money, as a less risky way to build their
wealth, so platforms like Goldman Sachs' Marcus may see an uptick in
demand as a result.
Banking
Healthcare
Health tech firms are implementing alert systems that grant busy
doctors access to the latest updates on the coronavirus without
needing to leave their normal workflows. Because agencies like the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are providing frequent
updates about the coronavirus, it's necessary for healthcare firms to stay
on top of the latest developments. However, this could prove difficult for
inundated organizations that need to step outside of their workflows to get
this information. That's why it's beneficial to have timely outbreak
updates inputted directly into EHR systems. And digital health firm
OptimizeRx is doing just that: The company is embedding CDC alerts
about the coronavirus into its cloud-based platform deployed by leading
EHR firms to ensure clinicians are granted access to the latest
coronavirus-related info. Its ability to link providers with the most recent
news should boost OptimzeRx's value in the eyes of partners, and we
should see EHR vendors racing to include tools that give providers access
to real-time updates.
And while healthcare stakeholders are increasingly turning to digital
tools now, certain segments of healthcare, like home healthcare,
require in-person interactions—underscoring some of health tech's
limitations in times of crisis. Home healthcare encompasses many
forms of care, ranging from assistance with activities like bathing and
dressing to skilled nursing. And although the use of digital solutions
such as telemedicine could help seniors access virtual consultations,
their reach can extend only so far. For example, administering
medications to immobile patients requires in-person interactions, which
virtual technologies are currently unable to replace.
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