How eCommerce is Supporting Healthcare in Crisis

A discussion on how one industry is helping communities in need

In under a month, the coronavirus overwhelmed the healthcare system in Italy. Taking hold of New York in recent weeks, a city that quickly surpassed most countries — a fallout, not an aspiration.

While the Lombardy region of Italy is one of the worst affected, experts concur that the rapid escalation is a sign of what the rest of the world can soon expect.

One thing that can stave off the grip of this epidemic, is “time”, being a key enabler in this respect. That is to say, healthcare systems need time to get on top of this situation — we’re all familiar with “flattening the curve” by now.

This is precisely where eCommerce comes into the equation, but more on that in a moment.

For now, let’s take a quick look at some of the most pressing challenges facing healthcare workers.

The Healthcare System

Healthcare is inundated. Talk about stating the obvious. The influx of new patients has resulted in frontline staff struggling. Medical operations are being cancelled, at an exponential rate. Access to essential resources, like face masks, respirators and ventilators, is becoming increasingly difficult.

Governments around the world are erecting temporary test centres, care centres too. Then there’s the issue of resources, or a distinct lack of, whereby doctors and nurses are overwhelmed. Getting sick too.

In parallel, social and economic disruptions are adding fuel to the crisis. Social distancing guidelines and the closure of high-street stores are likely to mitigate the immediate risk to humanity, to flatten the curve, but a wider set of implications are impacting public health.

Mental health

Mental health is another concern, especially for healthcare workers, the frontline staff who witness the grotesque impact of this virus at first hand.

Social distancing and self-isolation contradict basic human needs, causing conflict, anxiety, and depression. This will inevitably place a further strain on a healthcare system already near breaking point.

Being instructed or forced to stay at home poses a question: How can we access essential supplies?

As an eCommerce professional, below are three reasons why this industry is helping society during this crisis.

The eCommerce Solution

Online retail is one business channel that’s rising to the call. Helping business, consumers and economies but more importantly, the healthcare industry.

From my recent observation, here are some of the ways that the eCommerce industry is demonstrating an unwavering show of support:

№ 1 — Reducing the Spread: A significant proportion of the population have to avoid public areas, like shopping centres. So there’s an obvious need for essentials to be delivered.

With this in mind, the increased reliability of eCommerce means that customers can use online retail to avoid such areas and hence, help reduce the spread of coronavirus in the process. After all, by staying at home, people can still get the items they need without risking the spread of COVID-19.

Also, carriers are delivering a contactless service during the final mile.

№ 2— Better Supply Chain: At a time when the global supply chain is under so much strain, online retail has removed much of the uncertainty that comes with this. You see, online retail is much better equipped than land-based retail stores when it comes to meeting demand.

More specifically, online retail has immediate access to large quantities of stock and can ship these items much faster to the end-user. In other words, products do not need to be transported to a store before making their way into the hands of consumers.

№ 3— Health Products: People are not buying vacations or high-end luxury products right now but there’s certainly an increased demand for nutrition, vitamins, supplements and other health-related products.

For this reason, online retail is in effect supporting physical/mental health, by providing the convenience of shipping these items to consumers homes.

When we think about the short term impact, providing easy access to health products will almost certainly reduce health risks that one might experience.

Final Thoughts

As stated, “time” and human behaviour are key enablers to deal with the coronavirus, to relieve the strain on the already overstretched healthcare systems.

At this time, nobody can predict how much the coronavirus will impact the global economy, businesses, individuals, or healthcare systems. That’s still unclear. The early prognosis might look bleak, but an economic “V-bounce” offers hope for a speedy recovery in the aftermath.

In spite of this uncertainty, online retail continues to perform, largely interrupted. A symbol of hope.

The eCommerce industry is providing an invaluable service, helping in part to alleviate the physical and mental health of the public.

Also, remember that healthcare professionals around the world are going into battle for us, for you and me. Think about how beautifully inspiring that is?

In the meantime, take care of yourself, those around you and look after your physical and mental health, we will bounce back!