The year 2020 was a mix of emotions for some sectors, especially those whose activities are related to essential goods. In the case of the food retail sector, the pandemic brought challenges in terms of demand, availability of products and the complexity of logistical management, boosting the operational productivity of the workforce.
Another paradigm was the exponential increase in online shopping, which led many companies to redefine their modus operandi. The periods when large groups achieved the best sales results coincided, consequently, with the most chaotic moments of these same organizations.
For these and other reasons, 2020 was a year of consolidation, but above all, and albeit atypically, of growth. The global crisis, caused by COVID-19, demonstrated that it is urgent and essential to invest in an omnichannel strategy: a strategy that brings together all the channels that connect the customer to the brand, reducing the boundaries between electronic and physical.
The effective connection between the physical and the digital has been the biggest challenge for large companies that have a strong need to optimize their operations.
Technological innovation combined with a strategy based on data analysis allows to improve the offer, prices, quality of work of employees and much more.
The effect of data on digital operationalization will be increasingly beneficial to business strategy. Being on the “front line” with advanced management processes will make project coordination more effective.
We are seeing structural changes in consumption habits. More and more people choose to carry out their transactions in the most diverse aspects of the digital world. On the other hand, online stores are already very close to consumers, so that, in the not-too-distant future, the online and offline worlds will coexist very harmoniously. The hybrid business model will replace all traditional methods, but it is important to note that the physical store will last.
The current challenge is to organize information so that companies are more competitive. The increasing complexity of purchasing processes shows that the power of “knowledge” is the key to all successful companies in the future. Operating models need to be adjusted more quickly.
In an increasingly digital world “the new normal” will be different from what we are used to and soon we will all be organizing for this new scenario.