{"id":4868,"date":"2021-04-16T12:56:25","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T12:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/?p=4868"},"modified":"2021-04-16T12:56:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T12:56:26","slug":"covid-19-has-sparked-a-new-wave-of-innovation-across-consumer-industries-according-to-accenture-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/?p=4868","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 has sparked a new wave of innovation across consumer industries, according to Accenture research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The COVID-19 pandemic\u00a0has changed the way people live, work and socialize, accelerating\u00a0demand for innovation, as\u00a0retailers, consumer goods, and travel companies shift from reacting to the crisis to reinventing products and services, according to findings of a\u00a0new global survey<\/a>\u00a0from Accenture\u00a0(NYSE: ACN).\u00a0
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After a year of lockdowns, 95% of survey respondents said they made at least one change to their lifestyle that they expect will be permanent. Working from home, changing travel patterns, and a growing desire to shop locally are challenging industries to fundamentally rethink how they cater to the pandemic-adapted consumer. The latest survey\u00a0of more than 9,650 people in 19 countries supports Accenture\u2019s\u00a0previous findings<\/a>\u00a0that many changes in\u00a0behavior\u00a0will likely be long-term.\u00a0
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\u201cThe ripple effects of the pandemic will be felt for some time and serve as a powerful illustration of the need for consumer-facing companies to be agile, resilient, and responsive to change,\u201d said Oliver Wright, senior managing director and head of Accenture\u2019s global\u00a0consumer goods<\/a>\u00a0industry group. <\/strong>\u201cBorn out of disaster and necessity\u00a0comes opportunity;\u00a0the pandemic has sparked a new wave of innovation. As companies fundamentally rethink ways of doing business that deliver growth, many are using advanced analytical capabilities to spot, respond, and target changing consumption trends. For instance, British beer company, Brewdog, responded with agility and creativity throughout the crisis \u2014shifting to produce hand sanitizer, creating virtual bars, setting up the Brewdog Drive-Thru, and repurposing physical locations to create co-working space with Desk Dog.\u201d<\/em>
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COVID-19 has led to compressed transformation, with companies simultaneously transforming multiple parts of the enterprise and reskilling people in what previously would have been longer-term step-by-step programs. Many consumer-facing companies have re-platformed their businesses in the cloud, addressed cost pressures, and continued to build resilience and security, putting the infrastructure in place to enable innovation and position them for future success.
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Dawn of the \u201cthird space\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0
The\u00a0pandemic forced a rapid shift to employees working from home, with many expressing that they want flexibility in how and where they work moving forward. More than three-quarters (79%) of respondents said they would like to occasionally work from a \u201cthird space\u201d \u2014 a location other than their home or place of employment \u2014 and more than half said they would be willing to pay\u00a0up to\u00a0US$100\u00a0per month out of their own pockets\u00a0to work from a caf\u00e9,\u00a0bar, hotel, or retailer with a dedicated space.\u00a0 This highlights a potential opportunity to grow revenue for the hospitality and retail industries.
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The desire to work from a \u201cthird space\u201d is accompanied by a shift in attitudes towards business travel. Half (46%) of respondents said they have no business travel plans post-pandemic, or they intend to cut previous business travel by half.\u00a0How long this view will hold firm remains to be seen, but the current outlook indicates that the return to travel will resume principally within the leisure market, pushing the industry to adapt and become even more efficient to make up for lost income.
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\u201cThe pandemic has forced \u2019creative pragmatism\u2019, especially for travel and hospitality firms grappling to find additional revenue streams during the crisis<\/em>,\u201d said Emily Weiss, managing director and head of Accenture\u2019s global\u00a0travel<\/a>\u00a0industry group<\/strong>. \u201cSome hotels turned rooms into pop-up restaurants while others experimented with offering temporary office space to customers seeking a \u2018third space\u2019 to work. While there has been experimentation with innovation in select pockets, companies need to scale these new services and address travelers\u2019 renewed focus on health and safety, for example, by using the cloud to help enable fully contactless interactions.\u201d
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Shifts in\u00a0consumer habits are here to stay\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>
Not only do people think some of their work habits and travel plans have likely permanently changed, many also think their shopping habits have evolved for the long haul. The latest research supports Accenture\u2019s previously released findings that the dramatic rise in e-commerce is likely to remain or accelerate further. For instance, the proportion of online purchases\u00a0for products\u00a0such as\u00a0food,\u00a0home d\u00e9cor,\u00a0fashion, and\u00a0luxury goods\u00a0by previously infrequent e-commerce users \u2014 defined as those who used online channels for less than\u00a025% of purchases prior to the outbreak \u2014 has increased\u00a0343%\u00a0since the outbreak.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jill Standish, senior managing director\u202fand head of Accenture\u2019s\u00a0global\u00a0retail<\/a>\u00a0industry group\u202fsaid<\/strong>, \u201cLeading retailers were quick to adapt to the surge in e-commerce and are using technology to serve customers in new ways. Many adopted disruptive technologies such as augmented reality to recreate the physical store experience and help shoppers better visualize a room of furniture or an outfit, while others repurposed closed stores into local fulfillment centers with picking and packing technology.\u00a0 Even in a post-pandemic world, companies will need to satisfy consumers\u2019 appetite for online shopping with fast delivery and get more intentional about the investments they will make in their people, supply chains, physical stores, and digital channels to be well-positioned to drive growth.\u201d\u202f<\/em>

About the research<\/strong>
Accenture\u2019s COVID-19 Consumer Research is tracking the changing attitudes, behaviors, and habits of consumers worldwide as they adapt to a new reality during the COVID-19 outbreak. The latest waves of this survey were conducted November 28 \u2014 December 10 2020 and 25 February \u2013 March 5 12,487 and 9,653 consumers respectively, in 19 countries across five continents: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE, UK, USA.

About Accenture<\/strong>
Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services \u2014 all powered by the world\u2019s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 537,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at\u00a0www.accenture.com<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The COVID-19 pandemic\u00a0has changed the way people live, work and socialize, accelerating\u00a0demand for innovation, as\u00a0retailers, consumer goods, and travel companies shift from reacting to the crisis to reinventing products and services, according to findings of a\u00a0new global survey\u00a0from Accenture\u00a0(NYSE: ACN).\u00a0\u00a0After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,6,5],"tags":[244],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4868"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4873,"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4868\/revisions\/4873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outsourcing-today.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}