In the current scenario how feasible is it to order food, send or receive parcels, order medicine with a tap, shop online, and lots more, considering the increasing impact of coronavirus endemic?
The impact of the virus is such that every facet of the on-demand industry has been affected whether be restaurant, taxi, pharmacy, retail, e-commerce, parcel apps, etc.
As per a report by Harvard, millions of people across the globe currently have been affected by the virus, with no signs of stopping down until and unless there is an antidote in place.
The biggest hurdle with an on-demand industry is the fact that people can’t digest delay in whatever is being ordered and that’s a universal law applicable to all types of on-demand services.
It’s obvious since customers tend to have a strong connection with on-demand apps for their day to day lives routine needs and an app not able to suffice that on time can be a big blunder.
Most on-demand services understand this and suffer the delay on a few occasions only, but with coronavirus on the rise, it can pose a big problem to all the on-demand services via apps.
Industry Wise Suffering due to Corona
Corona Virus aka COVID 19 has affected lakhs of lives while affecting thousands globally leading to deaths as well.
This had lead to a stagnant period on the lives of so many and has had in turn an adverse impact on businesses as well directly or indirectly.
So, does it mean businesses should shut down in such times? Of course not! If such a thing happens, entire economy of a nation would go for a toss.
There are some simple remedies to be adopted by on-demand services in order to tackle the virus and prevent the business from suffering, but first, let’s have a look at the industries in despair and how they are impacted by the virus outbreak.
Food Delivery
It’s no secret that the virus was born in an animal market at Wuhan city in Hubei district in China, and hence food is the first industry to become a target.
Once people came to know about it, they have started to eat vegan, or have non-vegan food by cooking at home.
This had a lasting impact on on-demand food delivery services since people stopped ordering food from restaurants while preferring to have their own home-cooked meals.
Read More: Challenges in starting a food-delivery solution and how can you solve it?
Additionally, it has also impacted the industry in terms of logistics, wherein delivery staff are scared to deliver food parcel to places with too much crowd, or with unhygienic conditions, leading to cancellation of order due to staff unavailability or delay in delivering.
Water Delivery
Not just food, but even on-demand water delivery services are facing similar plight, with a probability of coronavirus thriving in water due to the fact that water is an ultimate breeding ground for most insects.
So, the fear of ordering water tankers is the same as ordering food from restaurants, and hence not just customers unknown of the source refrain from ordering water, while even delivery people are scared of transporting water from one place to another via large tankers.
Read More: How to grow your water delivery service
Ride Booking
Whether it be a bike, auto, or a cab, taxi-booking services have been affected a great deal due to the fact that passengers are scared of riding a taxi with a fear of getting infected from a driver who services so many passengers in a day.
Drivers also fear of carrying passengers in a taxi without knowledge of who is infected and who isn’t, especially when accepting to and fro rides at airports, railway stations, and bus stations.
Courier Parcel Delivery
Another industry that has seen a major impact is on-demand courier and parcel services wherein people are not ready to take parcels, unless important since a courier might have the coronavirus coming up in transit.
This has lead to even senders avoiding sending parcels since they might not be accepted by the receivers and even the delivery staff refrain to deliver susceptive parcels to susceptive places.
Pharmacy Delivery
Today sanitisers have gained extreme popularity due to the widespread outbreak of Corona Virus that has resulted in people buying out sanitisers and other medicines through the apps in such critical situations.
The on-demand pharmacy services are one such industry that has seen a boom in sales due to increasing usage of sanitisers and over the counter medicines in times of need, and even there is shortage or scarcity when the demand exceeds abruptly than supply.
Retail Delivery
Whether you talk about on-demand retail services or on-demand e-commerce services, even the retail or online commerce sector has seen a major lag due to the fact that people have stopped shopping unnecessarily while buying out only necessary stuff.
It is clearly evident that nobody knows what kind of viruses can accompany in the transit and hence both logistics companies, as well as customers, avoid any purchase for the time being unlike when people shopped too many items simultaneously at one go.
Read More: Importance of last mile delivery for customer experience in the retail industry
Simple tips to follow irrespective of the industry you’re into
- The welfare of employees is very important for any on-demand services and hence they should be given proper equipment such as masks, gloves, and sanitiser to safeguard themselves from the virus while also keeping the customers safe who they come in contact with.
- The goods delivered in any industry go through a lot of transit and hence proper disinfectants be sprayed by logistics firms or delivery people at the time of doorstep delivery.
- Constant health checkup is conducted on the employees to ensure that they are absolutely fit and fine to work with.
- The premises where the packaging is done whether it be a restaurant, pharmacy store, warehouse, factory, or any other place should be maintained clean with phenyl, or disinfectants sprayed at regular intervals.
- Employees should be told to wear a mask and gloves throughout the work hours and also use sanitiser whenever required in between.
- Other than that a tissue box is provided to delivery staff for using them during sneezing or coughing.
- It is very important to stay calm during the entire delivery process right from taking orders from customers to delivering them and imbibe that calmness into your employees as well.
Read More: Ways to reduce your last mile delivery costs in your business
Fighting a virus such as COVID 19 is not a day’s task that would get over soon. It would take months or maybe years to get out of an epidemic like this. It is all about the patience and teamwork that would help on-demand services to have their business go smoothly.
