The global pandemic crisis caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19) has given rise to a harsh and difficult business climate. As international borders close, people being isolated at home, the challenges faced by all companies who are facing temporary or permanent closures, unpaid staff, disruptions in supply chains, customer behavior changes, local shops forced to shut, uncertainty looming high, prospects of a severe recession has led to an impact on consumer outlook, perceptions, and behaviors.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, online footfalls have increased by 52%, and the number of online shoppers by 8.8%. Even the e-commerce giant Amazon plans to recruit additional employees and increase workers’ pay in the U.S., U.K., and Europe, to respond to surging online orders. In early March 2020, The Drum reported on research that shows that while annual advertising growth rates in China are predicted to fall from 7% growth in 2020 to 3.9%, e-commerce advertising spend is predicted to grow by 17.7% and social media spending to rise by 22.2%. Food retailers need to follow a new trend, which is produced traceability, which enables them to track the produce from its point of origin forward and backward through the supply chain and which could be one of the killer apps for blockchain. Ramesh Gopinath vice president of IBM Food Trust, who uses this system, says that this gives the customers an insight into where their food is coming from.