Companies with teams dedicated to innovation, organizational structures that allow for agile decision making and that quickly migrated to teleworking, are those that have best adapted to the new commercial reality.
The pandemic brought about a scenario of changes in the business models, the companies had to apply radical changes in an accelerated way in order to successfully face the challenges represented by the changes in people's habits.
The covid crisis forced companies to accelerate the digital transformation process they had been experiencing, forcing the implementation of new business strategies that, far from disappearing when the pandemic passes, will remain and be reinforced.
Crib economy, geolocalization, digital shopping... are terms that have always existed in the language spoken by marketing, sales and business strategy experts, but in recent months, such terms have once again echoed, and with great force, in the business strategy discussions of practically all companies in the world.
Between July and October 2020 in Central America the number of people trying to buy home office furniture online increased 71%, and the number of consumers looking for car insurance policies grew by 8%.
CentralAmericaData's interactive platform, Consumer Insights, monitors in real time changes in consumer habits in all markets in the region and in other Latin American countries, with fundamental information to understand their behavior, new trends and anticipate eventual changes in their purchasing patterns.
With the accelerated arrival of the new commercial reality, consumers no longer divide the world between the physical and the digital, since now the purchasing processes are a constant succession that combines both aspects.
Due to the transformation of consumer habits that had been occurring since before the covid-19 crisis and that has now accelerated, companies are focusing on understanding how people decide on the purchases they make.
Merging E-commerce models and face-to-face sales, through the implementation of apps that allow shopping in a physical store without going through the checkout line or selecting a fitting room from a cell phone, are the challenges for companies in the new reality.
In order to adjust to the new demands and challenges that arose from the covid-19 outbreak, at a global level companies are focused on understanding the trends that will predominate among consumers in the short and medium term.
The transformation of purchasing habits caused by the boom in e-commerce at a regional level, forced companies to accelerate the process of implementing their plans, because now they must enhance their digital strategies and change their business culture.
Starting in September, Hugo App will offer companies in the region an online store service, which will include a website, logistics, electronic invoicing and inventory management.
The new tool of the application of Salvadoran origin will be called Hugo Business, platform that will begin to operate from September 1st in Guatemala, and in the case of El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic, will begin in October.
The abrupt change in consumer habits forced companies to digitalize their operations and sales, but the challenges do not stop there, as companies will have to implement effective logistics systems to reach their customers.
Encouraging online sales so that customers can pick up products without getting out of their vehicles is the commitment of some Panamanian shopping centers to comply with the safety protocols that will be required in this new commercial reality.
Due to the threat of the spread of covid-19, since mid-March, Panamanian authorities decided to close the shopping centers.
The health crisis, quarantines and social distancing measures in Central American countries, forced individuals and companies to accelerate the adoption of new technologies, which caused the digital to become the center of all interactions.
In this scenario of covid-19 propagation, companies have had to migrate to the digital at great speed. The digitalization plans that companies were planning to implement in a period of 1 to 3 years are now being implemented in a few weeks, according to an analysis called "The Digital Agenda: Opportunities for the Service Sector", prepared by the Market Intelligence Unit of the Guatemalan Export Association (Agexport).
Considerable investments in the digitalization of operations, the closure of small stores and the expansion of the commercial area of the best located sales points, is part of the strategy that companies are beginning to implement in the new context of business transformation.
Managers of large corporations agree that several companies were already making progress in digitizing sales and operations, but the pandemic ended up persuading decision makers of the need to focus on online sales, and simultaneously accompany it with a plan to transform physical stores.
Assessing the company's value proposition and conveying it properly, as well as adapting quickly to the current business environment to create bonds of trust with customers, are part of the challenges that brands must face to survive.
According to experts on issues related to marketing and branding, the severe home quarantines decreed by the Central American governments due to the outbreak of covid-19, has imposed new habits to consumers.
Identifying and correcting failures in the logistics process of product delivery, while maintaining the satisfaction levels of their customers, who demand facilities to buy online, is the main challenge facing companies in the new commercial "normality".
The outbreak of covid-19 in Central America and the severe home quarantines decreed by the governments, caused the market to undergo deep changes and to be deeply and rapidly transformed, to the point of establishing a new commercial reality.
Placing the most essential products on the website, establishing partnerships with specialized companies to ensure the shipping and delivery of orders on time, are some of the tips for companies to develop e-commerce in the new business reality.
How to reach customers, implement or enhance the digital sales channel in this context of health crisis, are some of the issues that reveal today to many Central American companies.
Making safety and hygiene protocols visible, communicating the cases of covid-19 of its personnel and applying technology in processes to generate trust among its clients are some of the changes that companies must apply in this new business context.
The health emergency and the economic crisis resulting from the covid-19 outbreak changed everything at a global level.
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