Thursday, November 21, 2024

Businesses Struggling Amidst The Coronavirus Outbreak

Businesses Struggling Amidst The Coronavirus Outbreak

The spread of the coronavirus has taken the world by storm as countries across the world have been heavily impacted – we’re now beginning to see some of the more heavily affected countries such as Italy and Spain loosen some of the heavier lockdown and quarantine restrictions. In the city of Wuhan, in China, where the virus was first detected, residents have also begun to return to as much normality as they can at this time. Throughout the start of the outbreak and going forward, many are looking to see what the economic impact could be as experts suggest we may be heading toward a recession.

There has been a lot of attention placed on the hospitality and tourism industry as one of the bigger casualties throughout, as well as those that have been performing extremely well, such as online casinos for real money 2022, but there are also many on the smaller scale that may not see recovery.

Print and Marketing – When done well, it’s hard to know if your marketing campaign is doing anything at all – however when things aren’t going so well, you see the impacts very quickly. Many take our digital media for granted as social media has given a strong platform to operate from, however as many businesses look to cut costs, the outward marketing may be one of the first to go – print media from banners and marquees to flyers and posters are less in demand as many stay home, and digital marketing becomes a little more difficult as many operate at a reduced capacity or close entirely. The silver lining is that as many businesses re-open, this may be a market that sees a quick recovery, but until then the smaller agencies that rely on other small businesses to use their services are having a tough time. Larger businesses have not been immune to this either – national newspaper sales have found a huge drop in sales as many turn to digital platforms whilst newsagents across the country continue to close.

Betting and Gambling – Many have turned to their online alternatives in a bid to stay afloat, although physical locations have had to close these bingo sites haven’t signed up for gamestop and are still available to online players, but there have been concerns that the brick and mortar locations may not recover. With premiums on rent prices in prime locations on the high street and sport cancellations continuing to roll through until the end of May, the outlook for many who aren’t able to rely on an online casino alternative is looking to be a struggle for some.

Whilst restaurants have been openly one of the biggest to announce their struggles, many may also be looking to the smaller stores such as bakeries and other smaller food locations – with a high cost on perishables that are expensive to replace, again a premium in rent costs for being in a prime location and a reliance on foot traffic that is no longer available to them. Some have acted in defiance of the lockdown stating themselves as an essential service, offering delivery services where available, but this hasn’t been an option for all and once this is over many may come back to find their favourite coffee spot unable to reopen.