Various industries worldwide have improved with digital resources, from healthcare to education, especially after COVID-19.

Many companies have had to reimagine their operations due to employees working from home. Yet as technology has advanced and businesses have reopened, digital resources have been the answer to stepping forward.

COVID-19 has changed the way everything operates — and many people have learned how to accomplish it all from home. While the crisis is still slowing down specific parts of the world, one certainty remains. The pandemic has served as an accelerator for several industries.

Let’s look at these four industries and how COVID-19 has impacted them fundamentally.

Digital Banking

It’s been a long wait for the financial sector to go entirely digital. The finance industry has adopted several FinTech innovations, including mobile services and contactless payments.

While these digital resources are nothing new, the social distance aspect has pushed FinTech further into demonstrating its value to consumers.

Regulation has also played a role in how FinTech opportunities are taking shape. For instance, South Korea plans to ease rules on FinTech to boost the economy and growth of the sector. By 2023, its government will fund $252 million to FinTech startups in support.

If other countries take similar measures, this could substantially increase innovation and activity in this space.

Contactless Payments

Contactless payments have already been on the rise before the pandemic. Companies like Google, Apple and Samsung added virtual wallets to their products over the last decade. Other companies like Amazon have started implementing contactless payment methods in their physical stores.

With social distancing at play, contactless payment methods look like it’s here to stay. Now many retailers are starting to accept no-touch payments. Since COVID-19, businesses have found this a favourable feature among the public and require it to be part of their services.

For example, 7-Eleven has already deployed this method in its point-of-sale systems across its locations. Publix, the grocery chain, has even announced it’s accepting Apple Pay and other no-touch payments.

A majority of small businesses are even responding to digital payment methods. In fact, 60% of those businesses will only accept contactless payments or plan on it in the next two year

Mobile Banking

Branchless banking is on the rise as well. FinTech startups like Chime and Empower aim to replace the traditional brick-and-mortar business model. Branchless banking has also expanded in offering other banking services.

Some companies have invested in apps to offer high-yield savings and even ATM checking. Branchless banking has been an attractive option for banks because of less capital spent on physical locations and people. Plus, it has made customer acquisition and engineering easier.

Virtual Healthcare

Healthcare has become even more accessible to patients as healthcare providers quickly adopt telehealth services. In fact, outpatient telehealth services have risen from 1% before the pandemic to 13% during the first six months of the crisis.

Professionals even used telecommunications to support professional healthcare education, health administration and public health. As the infrastructure improves, these services will grow — even after the pandemic subsides.

Telehealth

Telehealth has made a point in lowering costs, easing overexertion of healthcare systems and creating accessible healthcare for rural and underserved populations. In fact, most doctors have safely and effectively handled in-person visits over video or phone.

Still, telehealth adoption has been slow before the pandemic. Yet, all of that has changed, and some companies have dramatically boosted their business working in telemedicine. Now telehealth providers see long-term growth in their services since many first-time users have become repeat customers.

Automating Manufacturing and Ease of Operations

The coronavirus pandemic has showcased how vulnerable manufacturing and logistics are to sudden disruption in human labour. From financial impacts to disruptions in supply chains — many businesses have had to increase investments in automation to adapt to changing markets.

More particularly, 3D printing and robotics reduce the industry’s dependence on human labour, filling the labour shortage gaps and facilitating an evolution.

3D Printing

For a long while, 3D printing failed to gain traction because of its expense and the in-house expertise it required for operation. But, COVID-19 has shifted perspectives of it. 3D printing technology has allowed manufacturing to be completely flexible and adaptable.

For example, the pandemic drastically increased the demand for healthcare equipment, like face masks, respirators and testing swabs. With 3D printing, providers could fill in the gaps with its technology and support emergency medical equipment manufacturing.

Automation and Robotics

During the pandemic, corporations ultimately put their factories at a halt or kept operating and put employees at risk. However, automation and robotics have offered the perfect solution for factories.

Essentially, robotics companies have automated the supply chain to keep assembly lines running. With this technology underway, it has had a substantial increase in demand as factories figure out how to keep operating.

Retailers and Ecommerce Shopping Experiences

The global supply chain disruption, store closures and economic uncertainty have made retailers anxious about their future business operations. However, others believe that the pandemic has boosted the e-commerce trends already underway. For instance, online grocery stores have significantly improved during lockdown orders for millions of people.

Additionally, the pandemic revealed certain weaknesses within supermarket logistics. However, it created some opportunities for companies to mitigate those vulnerabilities.

Online Grocery Market

Since the pandemic, the demand for online grocery services has dramatically increased, including grocery delivery. Companies like Amazon and Walmart made investments in emerging technologies — such as automated fulfilment. However, independent grocery retailers and national chains lacked the resources to invest in automation.

While some retailers struggled to fulfil orders, the sudden demand for these services has created opportunities for others. For instance, some companies don’t have retail stores. Instead, they ship groceries directly to customers from their warehouses.

The facility centres are also automated and don’t employ human workers. Moreover, giant retailers like Amazon have improved their customer service and offer faster delivery.

Enhanced Shopping Experience

As physical stores had to close, AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) enabled customers to try products at home before purchasing. For example, Target has rolled out AR and VR features, letting customers see what furniture would look like in their home or a virtual setting.

Even beauty companies like Sephora lets customers use their app to try on makeup before buying it. Meanwhile, the fashion industry has adapted to digitized collections, live streams and virtual catwalks. Essentially, viewers can swipe through designer collections during an online fashion show and have instant access to ordering and saving items.

Improving Business Operations With Digital Resources

Technology has positively impacted several industries, including financial, healthcare, manufacturing and retail. While many anticipate these technologies to continue in strength, there’s always the possibility of a stark consumer preference shift. Yet, it seems the digital resources are likely to stay and will continue to develop.

Author Bio

Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.