GEORGE TOWN, April 21 — Businesses that thrive on crowds such as shopping malls, entertainment outlets, cinemas and even spectator sports must transform their business model to outlast Covid-19 that is set to remain for at least another year, according to observers.
Analyst Oh Ei Sun said such businesses have already been struggling with the advent of technologies such as online shopping and video-on-demand, and the pandemic could be the final nail in the proverbial coffin.
“These businesses, even malls, are not doing well nowadays and the pandemic accelerated this trend,” he said in an interview with Malay Mail.
He said cinemas, for example, have been on a rapid decline as people opt to watch movies at home or stream online from their smartphones.
Sectors that had been thriving prior to Covid-19, such as the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) industry, are also unlikely to escape unscathed.
“Even for spectator sports, people can now watch it from anywhere, they do not have to go to the stadium to watch,” he said.
These businesses must revolutionise their business models from being crowd-oriented to be digital, he said before adding that this meant massive opportunities for digital transformation specialists.
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Economics professor Yeah Kim Leng concurred with Oh and said such businesses should not expect their patrons to return in full force once the MCO is lifted.
The Sunway University Business School economics professor said public gatherings will continue to be discouraged for at least several more months due to the pandemic.
To date, no vaccine or cure for the highly contagious Covid-19 has yet been developed and neither is expected to arrive within the year.
“These businesses will have to re-examine their viability during this period even after MCO is lifted,” Yeah said.
Oh said some small businesses may be able to last for a few months with the additional assistance and grants from the government.
However, he said he was not optimistic about their outlook beyond the six-month horizon.
The government announced a RM10 billion rescue package to help businesses ride out the mandatory halt of all non-essential activities during the MCO and avoid retrenching workers.
Despite this, however, many have yet to prepare for the massive changes to the community that must continue to practice social distancing until a safe and effective vaccine is ready for mass deployment.
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The world-stopping Covid-19 has already caused unprecedented disruptions to virtually all facets of human life across the world.
Major events either cancelled or postponed include the Olympics, the Geneva Auto Show, Mobile World Congress, the Christian Holy Week in Rome, and countless more shows, pageants, conferences, and events all over the world.
Yesterday, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said his ministry hopes Malaysia will reach single-digit new Covid-19 cases next week, but breaking the chain on infection may take between three and six months.
He also said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has predicted that Malaysia will still be “at war” with Covid-19 even until next year, unless vaccines for the coronavirus is found and made available to the public.
Dr Noor Hisham also said a “soft landing” approach would mean social distancing rules and bans on large gatherings were likely to continue for the rest of the year.
