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51% of companies in the pandemic used special software for restructuring business processes
Ekaterina Alexandrova | 09.10.2020
The marketing agency RBC Market Research and the SAP CIS company from 4 to 28 August conducted an expert survey of more than 150 top management representatives of the largest companies from different market segments: retail; production and distribution of consumer goods; industrial production; pharmaceuticals (production, distribution, retail); logistics and transportation of goods.
Most companies (51%) with a turnover of 3 billion rubles. up to RUB 100 billion during the pandemic, they used special software to restructure business processes. The highest proportion of respondents who chose the answer “Yes” are among industrial companies (62%), pharmaceuticals (61%) and companies involved in logistics and cargo transportation (59%).
The introduction of restrictive measures and the transfer of many business processes to a remote mode also required significant changes in approaches to management. In most companies, since the beginning of the pandemic, significant changes have occurred in such business processes as personnel management (53%), marketing, planning and online sales – 51%, respectively.
The least changes were observed in industrial companies, which, for objective reasons, cannot transfer all business processes to the online space. Companies engaged in retail sales, pharmaceuticals, and the production of consumer goods looked more dynamic.
The pandemic as a whole helped Russian companies to begin restructuring their business organization towards digitalization. The crisis prompted the management of companies to make difficult decisions to optimize existing business models (43%), search for ways to reduce costs (45%), and develop new business areas (27%).
Companies do not expect a return to the old business model. Most of the top management representatives who took part in the survey are inclined to preserve the scheme of remote work for some of the employees whose duties are not directly related to permanent stay in the office / point of sale / production (68%), etc. In addition, companies will try to continue to focus on the development of online business, including, above all, sales (53%). And this applies not only to companies from the B2C sector, but also to B2B companies equally.
The negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic was felt by the absolute majority of Russian companies (62%) with a turnover of 3 billion rubles or more. up to RUB 100 billion regardless of the scope of business. The drop in revenue was 13%. Retailers, as well as manufacturers of both industrial and non-food consumer goods, were the hardest hit. Nevertheless, among the survey participants there were also such companies for which the pandemic has become a window of additional opportunities. In particular, the epidemic affected the financial performance of logistics operators and pharmaceutical companies to a lesser extent. The revenue of most companies from these segments decreased on average by no more than 16%, while up to a third of the surveyed experts noted an increase in revenue by indicators exceeding 50%.
In general, Russian business expects to reach pre-crisis development indicators not earlier than by the end of December 2020. Retailers, who were most affected during the forced quarantine, plan to recover faster than others – they expect an activation of deferred consumer demand and do not expect new restrictions. Nevertheless, according to the most optimistic forecasts of market players, the Russian economy will not start a full recovery this year.
“In my opinion, one of the important conclusions of this study is that companies paid attention to the digital component of their business and realized that the old business models no longer work. The crisis always motivates development, and COVID-19 has broken many stereotypes and common patterns in building business processes. Many are waiting for the second wave of the epidemic and the related difficulties in business. In such conditions, every second becomes important for companies, which will help speed up the execution of processes. Digital technologies are just the tool that will help solve this problem, ”said Alexey Petunin, Managing Director of SAP for partners and fast-growing companies in Russia and the CIS.
Crisis, digital transformation of business
SAP
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