As nations react to the COVID-19 pandemic with lockdowns, curfews and social distancing, consumers and businesses alike have had to adapt to an increasingly ‘low touch’ approach. Traditional ‘high touch’ business models need new strategies during this crisis, for continued operation and survival.
Understanding exactly how low touch is impacting both consumer behaviour and market responses is critical for businesses, to build resilience to this and other similar ‘Black Swan’ events.
Recent research from McKinsey shows the impact of COVID-19 across a variety of low-touch mediums. The activities indicating significant shifts in consumer behaviour are:
· Telemedicine/Digital Healthcare
· Restaurant Delivery/Kerbside pick-up
· Remote learning for children and professional video conferencing
Telemedicine/Digital Healthcare
With reduced access to non COVID-19 medical services, and fear amongst the public of visiting medical facilities due to danger of potential infection, there is a clear demand for remote medical advice.
Consumers expect to make greater use of digital health services in next 5 years
This Bain & Co Healthcare Survey highlights the intended rise in telemedicine and digital healthcare services across Asian-Pacific markets over the next 5 years (from 2019), with almost 50% of respondents across all categories anticipating greater use of telemedicine services.
Singapore, Indonesia and Australia all reported increased use of telemedicine services across various platforms in March 2020 compared to 2019.
The number of telemedicine users in Asia-Pacific rose sharply in the first months of 2020