Only adoption of digital technology can help SMEs thrive after Covid-19 pandemic

Consumer products industries, along with retail, which has been divided into sub-categories like fashion and groceries, will have to go fully digital in order to adapt to changing customer behaviour due to the lockdowns enforced across the world.

Businesses should adopt digital technology faster as that is the only way to adjust to the new normal, a top SAP executive said.

“In a way, digital technologies would be very important for most industries to not just survive, but to thrive,” Deb Deep Sengupta, President and MD, SAP Indian Subcontinent, told ET in an interview. Sengupta added that he expects industries across the world to gradually ramp up and emerge out of the crisis unleashed by the Covid-19 pandemic. When businesses come out of the crisis, supply chain management, employee engagement, working capital management will be focus areas, which will require greater use of technology, he said.

Of the sectors that will recover quickly, he said the pharma industry has an upside, along with ecommerce, which has been identified as an essential service.

“If you look at some of the natural resources and utilities like oil and gas, those are essential services, they will continue to do well, and they will have to adopt technology,” Sengupta said.

Consumer products industries, along with retail, which has been divided into sub-categories like fashion and groceries, will have to go fully digital in order to adapt to changing customer behaviour due to the lockdowns enforced across the world. “It’s a huge opportunity for healthcare reforms, and the medical industry can drive a lot of reforms in terms of digitisation, not just in India but globally,” he said.