The second wave of Covid-19 pandemic has taken India by storm, where the number of active cases is making new records every day. The current crisis has once again dragged the country into a lockdown like condition and different state governments have laid strict restrictions on physical movement and social gatherings. This has hampered businesses across the verticals and the IT channel business has also been severely affected due to the situation.
It is indeed a hard time for every stakeholder in the channel business, however, channel partners trying hard to ensure business continuity. At the same time, they have come forward to offer their help to fight the pandemic.
Arun Kumar Rungta, Director, Patna, Digital Equipments said, “The coronavirus crisis has created a practical and ethical imperative for us to do more work that matters. In the first phase, we witnessed a spike in demand for IT related products, however, we are not expecting the same in the second phase. Since it is difficult to gauge how long this phase will last, we have put variable expenditures like hiring, marketing, travel, etc. on halt for the next three months. However, if the crisis continues for nine months to a year, we will have to reconfigure our business strategy to reduce the variable expenses, renegotiate fixed expenses and focus only on survival.”
Endorsing similar views, Ashok Poddar, Director, Everrise Infosolution said, “The situation is pathetic and it is becoming very difficult for us to manage the business. As the cases are surging at an unimaginable rate, there is a sense of panic among people. Hence, it has affected their spending preferences. We are not seeing much demand or enquiries and that has made the condition more challenging this time. Whole families are getting the corona infections and we all should help each other in this panic situation.”
As the physical movement has been restricted, partners are betting on the digital means to generate business inquiries and conduct business. They are leveraging tools such as WhatsApp Business to communicate various deals, schemes and offers to end customers along with the conventional communication mediums such as video calls, emails, social media posts etc.
“We use WhatsApp Business to generate inquiries and communicate with customers. Through this we can do business within city limits without any physical contact,” said Debasish Dutta, CEO, Durgapur, Door Computech.
While ensuring smooth business, partners are also adhering to the Covid-19 compliances and are strictly following the safety measures laid by the government. They insist customers for digital payments and contactless delivery for safety.
