The current virus crisis has completely changed the way business will be done in future. At least till the time we have a vaccine out to combat the spread and save lives, we have to adapt to the “new-normal”. Businesses are forced to re-strategize and evolve their processes to survive and grow at the same time. 

The worst hit due to the crisis are the small businesses that form the backbone of Indian economy and contribute to about 30% of our GDP. Though the government has announced a slew of measures for the sector like collateral free loans, equity infusion, credit line for stressed MSMEs, e-market linkages, still it will take a lot of effort and time for most of the businesses to resume operations. 

Many businesses have shut operations or are on the verge of shutting down due to shortage of labour, liquidity crunch, disruption of demand-supply chain and other factors. Faster implementation and quick-disbursal of loans is required to help distressed MSMEs.

Pre-Covid-19, small and large businesses alike relied a lot on trade fairs, events, conferences and exhibitions to promote their businesses globally. These events played an important role and served as an apt platform for the companies to showcase their products and services, build businesses partners, appoint distributors, meet new-buyers, renew existing buyers, in joint-ventures and tie-ups. They also helped in bringing investment to the country.

In the present scenario, worldwide trade shows and events are either cancelled or have been postponed. With the social distancing norms in place and the danger of disease spread looms large, it seems that in-person or physical trade fairs and events will not happen anytime in the near future.

The Covid-19 crisis has severely affected the exhibitions’ business globally. It has incurred huge losses to the organizers and venues and has disrupted the exhibitors’ plan to a great extent.

The uncertainty over when the crisis will end has forced the organisers to consider hosting virtual trade events, conferences and webinars as an alternative. Even the Indian government has announced the starting of e-market linkage to bring sellers and consumers at one place as a replacement for trade fairs and exhibitions.

Now what exactly a virtual event is? A virtual event is an online event where people interact and meet online rather than in person. There are many platforms that host Virtual Events and it can have single or multiple sessions or large conferences.  A Virtual event has several benefits over physical trade shows like it is easier to attend, accessible to a wider audience and has low operating and marketing costs. With virtual events, everything is digital and you have full control over your ROI and spend.

Though face-to-face interactions for business events / meetings will always hold their importance, the current times call for trying out virtual events till the time things normalise.

Even when physical events resume, say in a couple of months time, will they be hosted in a diminished form? will the visitor / exhibitor have the confidence to participate without any fear? will businesses be the same? There are many questions, answers to which only time will tell. 

Till then it’s time to test the efficacy of virtual events and continue to promote and grow business, digitally.

Submit your virtual trade event or webinar now and grow your business.