After Covid, many are hoping for a “return to normalcy”, a life similar to what existed before the pandemic. But Covid has changed a lot of things in people’s habits and some sectors could experience major upheavals in the coming years. Here are some examples.
- What will happen to business travellers?
The aviation and hotel sectors were among the most affected by the crisis. They can be encouraged by the fact that travel is one of the activities that people most want to be able to resume.
However, if tourists could quickly return to planes and hotel rooms after the pandemic, there are questions about business travellers.
Over the past year, teleworking has proven to be a particularly efficient and appreciated way of working. In return, business travel costs money and time for businesses.
This could push many of them, including those whose income has been reduced by Covid, to reduce the frequency of these trips in favour of remote meetings.
For aviation companies and several hotel chains, this clientele constitutes a considerable part of their turnover unfortunately, and especially of their profits. The smaller presence of business travellers could therefore have a significant impact on their revenues, if achieved.
However, remote work could create new opportunities for the travel industry. In fact, some travellers will now have the flexibility to settle abroad for a few days, weeks or even years to carry out their tasks.
- Changes in location?
Telework could also affect the location of certain businesses. We already know that many organizations, particularly in the field of finance, insurance, and the public service, intend to implement long-term telework policies. These policies could have an impact on downtown businesses, where these organizations are particularly active. Small businesses in the area are at risk of being affected by the lower influx than before the pandemic.
But if downtown coffee shops could lose customers, those on the outskirts could gain. In fact, if some teleworkers do not take their morning drink in downtown, they want to break the routine by working in a cafe near their home or go socialize on the terrace of a neighbourhood pub after a day spent alone at home.
- At the restaurant or at home?
Another activity that Quebecers are eager to resume is going to restaurants. After limiting their interactions for over a year, we can expect a mass return to the restaurants’ dining rooms.
However, during the pandemic, many consumers switched to ordering or home delivery services. Restaurants that had already adopted these practices or were able to adapt quickly did better than the industry average.
In addition, some home-cooked food services such as Goodfood or Cook it expanded significantly in 2020. It will be necessary to see how much these habits will remain and how this will influence the supply of restaurants.
- Shifts in retail trade
Life was already difficult for clothing retailers. The pandemic only made things worse by accelerating the pace of business closures.
Covid will have left many empty spaces in malls both here and abroad. This could accelerate the evolution of many of them.
In particular, they could make more room for new categories of products including food, as well as offering spaces where shops, cinemas, restaurants and even certain residential spaces rub shoulders.
Clothing stores that will survive will also have to question themselves. In the face of increased competition from e-commerce, many believe they will need to provide an enhanced customer experience. They will have to use new technologies available to them, in addition to serving more as a showroom than a point of sale.
