The coronavirus pandemic has had an unprecedented impact around the world. In more fragile economies that were still in the process of recovery, the challenge is even greater.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) generate around 70% -80% of formal jobs in some countries. In this pandemic scenario, these companies face many challenges: improving cash flow management, reinventing the business model to go digital. And, above all, transforming the marketing department, which is often considered only a cost, instead of a marketing that is a center for acquiring income in a predictable, scalable and sustainable way. Next, we’ll talk about why the SMEs need what’s called digital product sampling.
How can SMEs overcome the pandemic?
SMEs can take to overcome the worst effects of COVID-19 pandemic on their operations although the pandemic has placed SMEs in a difficult situation. With the region’s economies in mid-gear, many of them have seen their activity drastically reduced and have to cope with payroll payments, rents and other structural costs.
Faced with this situation, the governments of the countries have offered economic relief, but will it be enough? What steps can SMEs take to ensure their survival? And what opportunities can arise?
What they really need
At first, the companies need to request the rescheduling of debts and carry out an internal evaluation on the possibilities that they have to maintain themselves over time. We are facing an opportunity to rethink the financial gap faced by SMEs, in which governments must support with instruments for the recovery of productive activity and development banks will play an important role in financial support, and the definition of strategies.
The lack of a logistics chain that guarantees supplies, together with the low participation of SMEs in a virtual market, has hurt SMEs. In fact, some of the microenterprises do not have at least one email account, which is a very important barrier in business virtualization.
The poverty will increase between 4 and 5 percentage points, directly impacting the demand for products and services that SMEs offer. For this reason, carrying out a diagnosis on the possibilities of recovery or readjustment of the business models of SMEs, and on the usefulness of their products and services in a post-COVID-19 scenario is very important.
Analyzing the current skills and abilities of SMEs and future skills that could be acquired in the short term through the provision of different factors or the new destination of machines or instruments that the SME possesses is needed.
Digital transformation brings digital product sampling
The digital transformation that has been talked about for years has accelerated rapidly for many companies, generating not only the opportunity to generate income through channels that were not previously used such as paid ads, email, SEO, etc. The moment demands rapid adaptation and it is through digital channels that people are interacting and spending most of their time during the pandemic. And this transformation includes us all, no matter what industry or business profile your company has. And it is important to say, that it is not only the task of entrepreneurs, but also of marketing professionals, to take measures to keep the economy moving, preserve jobs and open the doors of companies for a faster economic recovery.
In the end, it’s no longer interpreted conventionally…
The digital transformation in turn also targets the sampling sector. Sampling is no longer interpreted conventionally, such as sending product samples through transportation services, but rather digitally. Digital product sampling can reduce costs that are usually spent on conventional sampling because this method can map consumers more carefully. With digital sampling, SMEs can save quite a lot in promotional costs, so that they can survive the tightening in this COVID-19 pandemic.
