15 minute read
Cover Story
Building the Future
How will 2021 look like?
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After months of apparent stability, the world is facing the threat of a new escalation of the pandemic. It is hard to predict what will happen towards the end of the year and whether we will be able to commence 2021 living in a safer environment.
Though having had an impact on all branches of the economy, the spread of the virus has been more harmful for some industries than others, leading to a wide range of strategies put into action in different sectors. Each business has evolved in their own way to face the challenges arisen from the market, some focusing on a quick development of their digital store, others implementing their home delivery services.
Maintaining a positive attitude towards the future is becoming harder everyday, especially for the smaller businesses who are possibly the most hit among all. The present itself is marked by a deep uncertainty, and this can have a discouraging effect on the players who are already struggling in the market, but what is important is to try and be resilient. Resilience has indeed been the key element for survival this year: with the forced shut down of stores and the strict measures of social distancing imposed on customers, only those realities keen on adapting have managed to survive.
The cover stories we are going to present will each focus on a specific industry. They will provide insights on the approach every industry will take towards the current crisis in order to thrive in 2021. The stories will highlight the specific difficulties of each sector, the response to the challenges they have had to face, and what is going to be their strategy in the next year. The focus will be on the industries of Hospitality, Retail, F&B, Human Resources and Travel, all very different from each other but equally hit by the severity of today’s crisis.
These stories, we hope, will inspire and give confidence to the many businesses out there who are struggling in these hard times, leading them to be creative and to innovate.
What 2021 will look like for the hospitality industry
How will you expect the f&b industry to be in 2021? The good news is that this is not the end of restaurants. I am a big believer that restaurants are the last non digital frontier and that when the dust settles, the work we do in the restaurants will be even more important. Of course, there is going to be a new framework within which we operate and that might be a period of team members in masks and with sanitizer bottles on tables. That is not what guests associate with fine-dining, or any dining atmosphere for that matter. But for good players, providing food and service at a high level is not going to be enough.
“This is not the end of restaurants. There is going to be a new framework within which we operate and that might be a period of team members in masks and with sanitizer bottles on tables. That is not what guests associate with fine-dining, but for good players, providing food and service at a high level is not going to be enough”
By Syed Asim Hussain Co-Founder, Black Sheep Restaurants
I keep reminding my team that we need to remain vigilant and adhere to the protocols we have established, and that is the same whether at an everyday neighbourhood restaurant or a Michelin-starred institution. I think you will see the effects on supply chains and menus, influencing menus and what is possible in the fine-dining environment. Guests are used to certain gestures in fine-dining restaurants, like a sommelier physically checking a bottle of wine in front of them before serving, but those may have to fall away or be done privately to ensure guests are comfortable. What I mean is your somm’ might be in a separate room, removing their mask to smell and taste the wine before decanting and serving it to you at your table.
How has the implementation of the delivery/takeaway service changed the way of doing business?
We are a hospitality team, the magic that we create within the four walls of our restaurants and the stories that we tell cannot be recreated in a brown bag delivered to your doorstep, but the pandemic has required that we offer a meal delivery service for the foreseeable future. The weeknight meal plan, Supper Cult, takes the decision out of dinner for our guests. We offer wholesome, restaurant-quality meals delivered directly to your door that you can feel good about.
Why did you decide to provide your own delivery service?
We started our delivery system GO back in 2018 because we wanted to control the entire process, from our kitchens to our guests’ homes. The aggregators are tech companies trying to play in a hospitality ecosystem which we just did not agree with. Delivery, even for us, with our own proprietary delivery system which means we aren’t affected by the large aggregator commissions, accounts for only around 5% of total sales. Even at the height of delivery when dine-in was suspended that number only grew to around 10-12%, so delivery alone will not sustain us.
Food delivery: a new opportunity and a new ally
How will you expect the f&b industry to be in 2021? 2020 was a whirlwind of a year, not only for the F&B industry, but also for Classified and The Pawn. This pushed us to think outside the box and be more creative when it came to marketing and promotions. 2021 will continue to challenge us in different ways, particularly on how we can accommodate our diners and ensure a safe environment when eating out. We can expect to see newer dining concepts popping up next year, with expectations of a more positive outlook, and also assume that people will place their focus on indulgence in the form of dining.
By Claudia Cheung Head of Marketing and Communications, Classified Group
How was your experience with the delivery service provider and how you foresee the partnership in 2021?
Having been so resilient this year, we believe the F&B industry will continue to come together to show Hong Kong how united and determined we are to survive through even the hardest of times.
How has the implementation of the delivery/takeaway service changed the way of doing business?
The delivery and takeaway service has taken a spotlight for the majority of the year. At Classified and The Pawn, we definitely had to adapt to being able to provide quality dining experiences out of a little brown box. We had to adapt when it came to cooking and preparing our foods, so we can ensure our standard is kept, even when there are a few additional steps in between our kitchen to the comfort of our diners’ tables at home. This year, we really strengthened our relationship with delivery service partners, where we relied on each other to provide a seamless dining experience for our diners at home. Although the challenges may not disappear in 2021, we strongly believe that we will continue to persevere, adapt and if needed, pivot to meet our consumers’ needs with the help of
our delivery service partners.
Post-Covid-19 Talent Strategies for 2021
The business landscape has changed with organizations changing the way they do businesses since Covid-19. Indeed, many organizations were not ready for the change and still reacting to the situation today. This Covid-19 is a test and wake-up call for many that were not proactively improving the way they run their businesses and manage their team. As an expert in employment background check and analytics, we have worked closely with HR practitioners in the past months and concluded the following tips in their talent strategies to adapt to this new business environment:
By Leo Ma Chief Operating Officer, eeVoices Limited
• A more agile team setting: Many organizations’ business models are changing with their daily revenues fluctuating quite a lot with the confirmed number of Covid-19 cases going ups and downs both domestically and internationally. Organizations are forced to require teams to be more agile to solve business issues and new challenges. This includes being more flexible in handling customer requests, coming up with new ideas to add value to customers’ changing business models, and restructuring their team design such as employing more part-timers or utilizing more external resources than doing things in-house. Organizations empowering employees with agile mindsets will be more capable to survive and capture new opportunities in this fast-changing business world.
• Remote team and flexible hours arrangement becoming a feasible option and norm: Productivities were affected in the first place when organizations were implementing the remote work arrangement. This can be overcome with effective measures in work output and utilization of team collaboration software which emerged in the past 6 months since Covid-19. In this new form of remote working environment, many employees feel more job satisfaction and even more efficient with less time spent in transit. Thus, we foresee that organizations will continue having flexible hours arrangement and view remote team as a feasible option executed in a need basis.
• Work-life integration: Since Covid-19 with the remote working arrangement, employees are required to go for work-life integration, different from the previous work-life balance mentality. Employees are provided with more opportunity to integrate and synergize for their life and work than thinking to strike for the balance in the past. • Efficiency in recruitment & more rigorous screening process: Since Covid-19, employers are hiring more carefully than before for every hire. With video conferencing and other new technologies, employers are utilizing more efficient ways to maximize their recruitment ROI. As every hire is more critical, employers become more rigorous in their screening process thus conduct more reference checks and background checks for their new hires to ensure they are taking the right employees onboard. It is also a good time for Human Resource department to rethink and take on more strategic roles while utilizing external resources which can be effective and used in need basis.
Afterall, Covid-19 created various challenges for organizations. At same time, to think positively, it may not be a bad idea for organizations to revisit their status quo and make changes now to become more capable to capture new opportunities in the future.
The reinvention of the hotelier’s sector
Could the ‘Staycation’ phenomenon be regarded as a new, permanent form of vacation? ‘Staycation’ is actually not a new term in the hospitality industry, but the demand of having ‘Staycation’ has been increasing in the past few months because of COVID-19. This pandemic has led us to cancel our business trips and vacations this year. And the world is moving towards a new normal on how you will spend your vacations with your family and friends. The hospitality industry has been suffering waves of cancellations. Currently the situation is slightly better in Hong Kong as people are looking and searching for safe ways to spend their holidays or special occasions. With this in mind we have created unique and whimsical packages allowing locals to enjoy staycations together with their loved ones, family and best friends. Examples are our Sky High Staycation, Ritz-Kids Night Safari Stay, 520 I Love You romance package, Elevated Club Experience, Pawfect Stay, as well as educational and interactive programs such as Ritz-Kids Hoteliers and Junior Chef Cooking Class, where kids enjoy cooking workshops, learn
By Mr. Pierre Perusset, General Manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong
dining etiquette, or to do household chores such as making-the-bed and table setting. Frankly speaking, this crisis has also stimulated us to adapt on how we operate and manage our work force to ensure everyone keep their job. Nonetheless, we continue to engage in our community activities to assist those in need of food, personal protection equipment, or other support. Of course once people can travel again, the “staycation” trend will reduce greatly as locals will be once again looking for overseas destinations.
Do you reckon the ‘Staycation’ to continue to assist the local travel businesses?
Yes the Staycation sort of limit stress level when organizing a trip, is also a great way to stimulate the local economy and presents a unique opportunity to enjoy and rediscover our own beloved city of Hong Kong. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has required us to raise our hygiene standards to an even higher level with new protocols. Marriott group has vigilantly elevated cleanliness standards and is changing hospitality norms. Marriott has created a Global Cleanliness Council teamed by in-house and outside experts in food and water safety, hygiene and infection prevention, and hotel operations. The council is developing a new generation of global hospitality cleanliness standards, norms and behaviors for our more than 7,300 properties. Deployed enhanced cleaning technologies at each property including electrostatic sprayers and the highest classification of disinfectants recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization to sanitize surfaces throughout hotels. When guests check into our hotel, they will notice a number of additions to our already stringent cleaning
regimens designed to set an even higher standard of cleanliness for hotels. Final thought: We need to continue to work together with our team of ladies and gentlemen in being very creative and innovative in order to create Ritz-Carlton guests for life and provide locals with many good reasons to escape their home. This crisis is also a reminder for everyone to stay connected to each other, be close to our community, and help those in need. I feel grateful to be part of an amazing team of ladies and gentlemen at The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong who, despite the difficulty of the crisis, strive every day to continue to deliver to our guests the legendary service for which we are known. This crisis gave us all the unique opportunity to spread love to one another, take care of our valuable guests, get closer to our community, and become even better hoteliers. All our ladies and gentlemen are also truly looking forward to being able to once again welcome our international travelers and create for them memories which will last a life time.
We don’t know when the COVID-19 pandemic will be over or when our lives will return to some sort of normalcy. But we want our guests and our ladies and gentlemen to know that when the time comes to travel once again, we will be ready to welcome them back to a safe and clean hotel environment.
The shopping experience from traditional to digital
For the luxury industry in the upcoming future, CRM is of incredible importance to achieve efficiency in every aspect of a business activity, considering that the cost of maintaining current customers is lower than attracting and acquiring new ones. For costumers of the new generation, the current trend is to preferably focus more on the services per se and on the brand image conveyed by the company.
By Chowanne Kwong Senior Digital Marketing Executive, Maryling
E-commerce has become of more and more importance for the retail industry. Our company created its e-commerce site recently, so we have the first-hand experience to say that the starting-up expenses are quite high. Some of the steps in going digital is setting up the website, investing in data tracking tools, visual development and advertising, and each of them requires quite great an investment. On the plus side, investing in these new digital tools and skills is undeniably less costly than opening a new retail store. From our perspective, e-commerce is very efficient for small businesses. Regarding the CRM aspect, from the digital store can be extrapolated more accurate data about customers behaviour. Based on their shopping journey on our site, we are looking into developing and implementing more personalized strategies to create a tailored shopping experience for them.
For example, we have observed that many customers visit and browse our e-commerce store but do not finalise the purchase. To address this phenomenon, we came up with personalized advertising and strategies to re-target the products in which they are interested. In this way the whole purchase journey can be more specific and meaningful to each and every
customer.
