Embracing the New Era aka “New Normal’

It has been 60 days since the largest democracy of the world i.e., INDIA has been reeling under lockdown with exceptions being driven by States at their local level. Lot has been written and spoken by media pundits and experts from various fields. There are several path-breaking activities that people across age groups have done from the precincts of their own house. This has been a time to rise from the negativity which is all-encompassing and strive to move towards positivity. Human beings have always been social and they would continue to be so in the new world as well. Physical distancing as a concept will have to be continued with or without choice.

Having been associated with the consumer space for close to 2 decades with an eye for detailing, I see that the following is what our part of the world has truly been through with few quick examples to resonate with…

Opportunities have been grabbed – Schools who were truly physical have moved digital; Offices who thought Work from home (WFH) wasn’t an option have had to follow this with or without choice and no. of organizations have actually loved this model after this was tested in the 1^st phase of lockdown itself ; Physical conferences have moved digital overnight with attendance at an all-time high though revenues have been a cause of concern 

Passion has been relentlessly followed – It seems that the panacea for learning has been best achieved during this lockdown. What in a normal situation sounds challenging was attainable by a variety of people. Both the stakeholders i.e., there have been a lot of interventions taken both by Govt bodies and Independent online learning platforms to provide training at no cost. The trainees have also taken this as an opportunity to move deeper in the direction of their passion. Beyond this, there has been lots of online coaching, people doing their own independent activities i.e., right from yoga to reading, cooking to writing etc.

Technology has become the best friend – This statement hasn’t exhibited this truth across generations so strongly as during this period. Not only, that people have learned newer skillsets but also put that into practice. What we have heard so far in the world of Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Machine Learning has clearly emerged as big winners. We have already been experiencing some of these in bits across e-commerce and OTT platforms however the best would be seen as the consumers start adjusting to the new normal and would like to engage a lot more with limited movements.

Kirana's have got their shine back – Who had anticipated that our neighborhood Mom and Pop stores popularly known as Kirana outlets will be back in the game and that too in such a big way. During such unprecedented times, when households thought that they would struggle for necessities, the relationship driven Kirana owners came to their rescue by not only serving them but also undertaking a bit of risk to their own lives. Their future looks quite promising since their connect has now got a new impetus and a strong backing by the biggies of the e-commerce and other online platforms will continue to build on their strength.

Hygiene is synonymous to Mobile – Until the period of Covid 19 came up, no one would have ever thought that we would be entering the era of hygiene in a manner like this and the way hygiene is seen in the world is going to see a dramatic change. Everyone knows the concept of Lowest Common Denominator and now that would apply to hygiene since the minimum level by anyone would see a change irrespective of their income strata. Brands operating in a certain category of FMCG would have never thought to enter into a small-sized category like Sanitiser.  Few examples, we all can relate with are – will the maids be entering and working in the houses in the same manner, will the retail outlets be operating in the same manner, will the public transport be operating without any changes, will the schools and institutions be operating in the same manner.

Retail is set to Change in a Huge Way – We have always experienced Retail outlets to experience more crowd over the weekend and less on the weekday. Do you think that the Malls and Retail outlets can manage to continue with the same trend. Looks unlikely? The primary reason being crowd and hence the concern. This poses the challenge for all formats of retail to take initiatives which welcomes more consumers to come on the weekdays, more people to watch cinema in its new avatar (let's wait and watch) both on the weekdays as well as weekends, entertainment centers of various kinds to come up with offers which encourages people to take time out even on weekdays.

Let’s enter the ‘New Normal’ of our lives with folded hands instead of handshakes, with the original values of the Indian culture which now has followers all over the globe.