According to an assessment by the World Economic Forum, there are a number of technology trends that have taken off during the COVID-19 pandemic. These trends include digital payments, telehealth and robotics, and such innovations have either helped to reduce the spread of the coronavirus of they have aided businesses in staying open. The technological leap also has the potential to help make society more resilient in the face of future pandemics (or a second coronavirus wave) as well as with other threats.
Post-lockdown China provides some insights into which technology developments are proving the most resilient and which are most likely to continue to grow as the coronavirus pandemic abates. Taking retail, there are four new shopping trends the have featured most strongly for post-lockdown China, including online shopping and better value for money. According to a Forbes article, mobile payments, contactless delivery for food and packages, and e-commerce for non-traditional items are likely here to stay.
In addition, an assessment by Simplii Financial confirms these ideas from a Canadian perspective. A survey conducted by the fintech company has revealed that almost half of Canadians (47 percent) say that a household budget is more important right now. To help to manage this, more Canadians have turned to online solutions. The survey found that more than two thirds (68 percent) of Canadians relied more on digital technology than before and over half (57 percent) have relied on digital banking more over the last few months.
In terms of what the main financial concerns are, the poll showed that what Canadians are looking to better manage: food takeout/delivery (44 percent), household technology (34 percent) and entertainment (29 percent) expenses. These are the areas most likely to continue to be of concern for the typical Canadian family in the post-pandemic future. Moreover, the way of managing these concerns is most likely to be through online banking and associated digital banking technologies.
