Assist enterprises to sell online.

A small share of enterprises surveyed (14%) sell their products or

services on the internet. This makes it difficult to service customers and generate revenue during
quarantine or other mobility restrictions. Efforts can be made to encourage firms to get connected to
advertise, offer, and sell over the internet. Enterprises often need help even with the e-commerce
basics, such as creating a website and uploading photographs of their products. In addition, an
enterprise needs to link with an e-payments service provider to receive revenue. Platforms, e-commerce
service companies, and e-payment providers are available, but enterprises need to know how to link up.
Getting connected in this way will not only assist businesses to keep operating in the current situation
but will also help during a possible second wave later, and more generally to expand their customer
base under normal and “new normal” business conditions.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has shocked global, regional, and national economies. People’s lives
and economic activities have been strictly limited to safeguard health and control the spread of the
virus. Travel bans, temporary closures of schools and businesses, and social distancing have
accompanied quarantines. Meanwhile, private sector businesses have cut back production as well as
service delivery, and have been forced to temporarily lay off employees. They face a lack of working
capital, making it difficult to continue operating. Prolonged containment of COVID-19 increases the risk
of business failure and bankruptcy. In particular, micro, small, and medium-sized firms are at great risk
due to abrupt supply chain disruptions and tightened financial conditions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the restaurant industry, but it
hasn’t ended it. Thanks to quick reactions and a willingness to adjust,
establishments of all sizes, locations and niches have managed to stay afloat.
With more restaurants reopening, it’s become clear that some of these
changes will last.

The most obvious change to come to reopening restaurants is a renewed

stress on health and safety. During the pandemic, increased health measures
are a government-mandated necessity in some areas. After the pandemic,
they’ll be an optional but critical part of preventing future risks.

Some measures, like wearing masks and mandating a six-foot distance

between seats, will likely fade with the virus. Others, like frequent hand
washing, hand sanitizer stations for guests and regular disinfection, will
persist. Overall, the industry will take cleanliness more seriously, going
beyond meeting FDA regulations and taking a proactive approach to disease
prevention.
Restaurant health and safety protocols may reach a scientific level. Some
operators may look into metallic nanoparticle coatings to sterilize and disinfect
kitchen equipment.

Restaurants and foodservice businesses were some of the first economic

activities severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dining in restaurants
virtually stopped overnight in cities and states as social distancing guidelines
took effect. A Penn State research team has been working to develop rapid
response strategies for the industry, from the perspectives of both business
owners/managers and consumers. Solutions will need to address both
aspects of this equation.

But, if service innovation is so important, why is it not a priority in every organization? The answer is that,
since 1776 when Adam Smith discussed the “unproductive” work of services, the service sector and
service activities have never been considered serious. The attitude was: "They don’t create anything
tangible, therefore they don’t count."

"AN INCREASE IN RISK PERCEPTION MAKES CONSUMERS MORE WILLING TO PAY FOR SAFETY
FEATURES."

Already during the pandemic, companies have been creative in identifying "low-hanging fruit" that could
be quickly implemented in their operations. Grocery stores install plexiglass shields at their checkouts,
restaurants and groceries have expanded to takeout and deliveries, and face-to-face meetings have
been replaced by video conferences across many sectors of the economy.

more than 90 percent of executives said they expect the fallout from COVID-19 to

fundamentally change the way they do business over the next five years, with almost as many

asserting that the crisis will have a lasting impact on their customers’ needs (Exhibit 1).

Businesses can gain long-term advantages by understanding such shifts and the opportunities

they present. In past crises, companies that invested in innovation delivered superior growth and

performance postcrisis. Organizations that maintained their innovation focus through the 2009
financial crisis, for example, emerged stronger, outperforming the market average by more than

30 percent and continuing to deliver accelerated growth over the subsequent three to five years

(Exhibit 6).

While the hospitality industry is slowly recovering, the COVID-19 crisis continues
to exert profound impacts on how hospitality businesses operate. Hospitality
businesses are expected to make substantial changes to their operations in the
COVID-19 business environment in order to ensure employees’ and customers’
health and safety, and enhance customers’ willingness to patronize their
business (Gössling et al., 2020).

Stanford researchers found that many people who contract coronavirus report having
eaten at restaurants indoors, stating that “Restaurants were by far the riskiest places, about four
times riskier than gyms and coffee shops.” And The CDC has found people with coronavirus
were twice as likely to say they have dined — indoors or outdoors — at a restaurant in the past
two weeks.