Shaan Mehdi
“We could just order it online”.
How many times have you or someone you know uttered that phrase in the past 2 months? Probably you can’t keep the count any more just because of the new order that COVID19 has imposed on the world. It has the potential to completely and permanently re-shape much of our day-to-day lives and the most apparent changes have been brought about using technology to keep the economic and social machine chugging along.
Economist reckon that the pandemic will make the world a less innovative, more fragile and less equitable place. To this end, one of the most pressing issues in the post-Covid19 world will be whether technology will exacerbate or help stem these negative consequences.
The first major consequence is the emergence of online shopping as a big winner. Where e-commerce was already making its mark in some segments of society, the pandemic has fast-tracked its role as an integral part of our daily lives. The graph below signifies the growing trend of sales on Canadian e-commerce platforms. These statistics were recorded prior to the pandemic hence the figures should be taken with a grain of salt as most global economic indicators have been made redundant due to the economic fallout of the pandemic.
Retail E-Commerce Revenue in Canada
Even so, a post-pandemic survey conducted by the research firm Numerator shows that almost a third of all Canadians are shopping for things online that they normally would have bought in person. Similarly, small businesses like Toronto-based Pilot Coffee have recorded a 300% increase in online order and a 350% increase in online customers. While this may seem as a boon for small and medium enterprises, not all independently owned businesses have the capabilities to shift over to an online only business model. While this will promote innovation in the long run those that can’t keep up in the short-term risk losing it all. Similarly, from the perspective of the buyer, those who were used to a world where a product can be inspected meticulously first-hand may now have lost that sense of solace since e-commerce habits do not allow for such types of testing to be as common as they once were.
In this regard, those who are more averse to the new online shopping habits may enter the new Canadian digital marketplace far later than others who are more familiar with them. Rather than remain as a personal choice between consumers, those not willing to partake in the e-commerce world will be systemically sidelined in the consumer market thus creating a less equitable marketplace and potentially affecting national prices. Rather than forcing all consumers to the digital sphere in one fell swoop, the Canadian government must ensure that e-commerce systems are gradually rolled out in the country, giving first-time e-commerce users time to get to know the ropes. Additionally, small and medium enterprises who are not well versed in e-commerce practices should be given free courses and training on how to do so to ensure they are not at any significant disadvantage to the rest of their peers.
Not only have consumer habits shifted to the digital sphere, the ability for many companies to continue their operations uninterrupted using working from home systems has been another mini revolution during these testing times. Statistics from April show that 4.7 million Canadians began working from home as part of social distancing measures put in place due to the pandemic. This is an addition to the 2.1 million workers already working remotely prior to the restrictions being put in place. While it may seem convenient to continue having these systems in place even after social distancing measures are lifted, the additional costs incurred by the employees must also be taken into consideration. For example, electricity, gas and supplies costs can be claimed by full-time remote workers however in the current situation the process to identify who falls under the “permanent remote worker” category is less coherent since the timeline of the lockdown itself isn’t solidified.
Asides from supplies and energy, the ability to create a productive work-from-home environment varies greatly with each individual, hence potentially creating a more un-even playing field in terms of each employee’s output. While some people flourish in a less structured framework, others find it increasingly difficult to acclimatize themselves to the post-Covid19 work environment. Less facetime with clients and team-members is one big area in which more extroverted members of the population are finding it hard to find their footing. Therefore, in roles where networking is a big factor, some Canadians feel that their ability to excel in their jobs is taking a big hit.
While we’ve discussed how technology may bring about a less equitable society, the role of the federal government in providing fiscal cushions to the bulk of the population may play a big role in smoothening the transformation of Canadian society to a more equitable e-commerce and remote-working centered system. Forcing small and medium businesses to change their models overnight is healthy for innovative business practices to take root, however as mentioned earlier, not all businesses have the capacity and expertise to be able to seamlessly pull that off. In contrast, some argue that providing more economic aid to the bulk of the population may in fact blunt competition and cause entrepreneurs to be more risk-averse in terms of investments and creating start-ups.
Specifically, in terms of providing a Universal Basic Income to all Canadians, some detractors predict that people who have all their fundamental needs met will not be motivated to push the envelope and aim to achieve technological innovation. The other side disagrees and says that with the added time the population will have instead of trying to make ends meet, innovative practices will soar due to people being able to use their skills for more productive endeavors. The second argument of entrepreneurs becoming more risk-averse due to the pandemic exposing the global economic structures’ fragility has some merit if the governments of the world learn nothing from this crisis. However, if the Canadian government and its global counterparts can put in a place a pandemic-proof global economic and governance system, then innovative practices will have a lot less to fear and our society can move into the Digital Age on a more level playing field.
The writer has an undergraduate degree in Political Science from Queen’s University and works in fleet management
