The new coronary pneumonia epidemic has a huge impact on people’s work and life. The past niche models such as remote office and online teaching have entered the public’s field of vision, and new concepts such as contactless distribution and online cultural travel have also been “created”. What they have in common is that they are closely related to the Internet, which reflects the new development of the online economy. At present, the prevention and control of the epidemic situation has achieved results. Next, we must also focus on economic development. At such a moment, we need to think about: What are the prospects of the “online new economy” in the epidemic, and what changes will they bring to China’s future economic society?


How the epidemic triggers change: from short-term shocks to long-term value

To understand the development prospects of various new things today, we must understand the changes in the industry The occurrence mechanism and the possible role of the epidemic. The author’s judgment is that the epidemic situation will not change the trajectory of technology application and development, but will play a role in accelerating to a certain extent.

The epidemic can prompt enterprises to develop new models or new products to solve short-term problems, and people will have to change their original practices because of the need for epidemic prevention; but the epidemic will always In the past, it could only be called a trial camp or trial. After “large-scale” attempts, new things that can really enhance the user experience will hopefully gain a foothold for a long time, otherwise it will only be a temporary phenomenon under impact. As in previous years, the severe air pollution in a large number of cities has made people experience wearing masks, and once the smog has dispersed, everyone is more willing to breathe freely.

Therefore, the key is to investigate whether they can better solve the practical problems in production or life, especially how to combine with the market demand under normal conditions to play their own Long-term value. Of course, “opportunities are only for those who are prepared.” It is also necessary to consider the impact of other factors such as supporting conditions, application costs, alternative technologies, and make a comprehensive judgment.


The epidemic demonstrates the potential of online new economic development

During this time, the epidemic let us understand the application scenarios of various new technologies and models The next step is to “through” the epidemic situation to understand its potential for development, the key is to find a combination of them with the medium and long-term improvement of production efficiency and quality of life.

At the beginning of the outbreak, the great role of Industrial Internet was demonstrated. In late January, there were supply gaps for important materials such as masks, disinfectants, and protective clothing; downstream productionAfter coordinated emergency work, the raw materials such as melt-blown non-woven fabrics began to panic. The whole society begins to care: how much are the material inventory, production capacity and raw materials? where is it? How long can it be used? Coupled with the sudden increase in procurement demand and unsmooth connection with suppliers, a large amount of information on material purchases and assistance appeared on social media.

On February 11th, the “National Public Service Platform for Big Data for National Epidemic Prevention and Control Materials” created by China Industrial Internet Research Institute and JD.com was officially launched. The purpose is to get online and offline, realize the release and sharing of production data, improve the level of digital collaboration between upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain, and enhance the intelligent dispatch capabilities of epidemic prevention materials and production materials. We once again realize that the “advanced” of manufacturing is by no means a narrow sense of high-end product production, and that machines replace labor. Relying on information technology to realize the integration and optimization of upstream and downstream is also a question of a university, which can also be reflected in a mask of a few dollars. The essence is to reduce the iceberg cost hidden in logistics and supply chain management, and tap the third source of profit.

In fact, the concept of using industrial Internet technology to improve supply chain management has been applied before the outbreak. Alibaba put forward the goal of promoting the digitalization of the traditional manufacturing industry in 2019. Small and medium-sized enterprises such as clothing, footwear, daily necessities, etc., after the Internet of Things technology transformation of the production line, can real-time grasp the order production progress, inventory use and quality inspection status, effectively reducing the cost of the supply chain. If it is connected with the sales information at the front desk, it can also predict sales and even lead product innovation. Promoting collaboration between production and sales is a typical application scenario of the Industrial Internet. The epidemic situation has deepened the industry’s understanding and understanding of its role, and will certainly have the effect of promoting development and accelerating landing.

You can use the same idea to understand the “contactless delivery” that appeared in the epidemic. Accessing express in designated locations such as smart cabinets and convenient shelves in the community can reduce personnel contact and reduce the risk of infection. Does this model help solve the “pain points” of express delivery services under normal conditions? It is not difficult to find that it can enable the courier to complete the task of sending and picking up when the customer is not on site, reducing the trouble of time coordination between the two parties, so it actually exists before the outbreak. This model is not unique to China. Earlier, “Pelican Express”, a subsidiary of Japan Express, provided such a service (later merged with Japan Post’s parcel service, so some people in China directly translated this model into “tang goose pieces”)-but only provide The collection and delivery service is not necessarily a smart container, but there are many franchise agencies and convenience stores. In general, the development of contactless delivery is helpful to improve the efficiency of express delivery; but for customers with inconvenient handling, it should still provide door-to-door service. This depends on the improvement of service specifications and standards.

The “Online Cultural Tourism” spawned in the epidemic also needs to find a point of integration with mid- to long-term consumption. If people can go to the field after the epidemic is over, integrate digital resources in order to enrich the spiritual and cultural life at home, and launch online services such as online libraries, museums, and theater columns, is there still a need to exist? the answer should be confirmed. Regardless of whether someone is unable to go to the site due to conditions, tourists need to understand the general content before the on-site visit experience in order to arrange the itinerary and schedule, and there will be a request to recall the memory afterwards.

In Japan, where tourism is developed, the online display of scenic spots and attractions is quite sufficient. Government tourism departments or industry associations usually establish special portals to provide a full set of official information on famous attractions and surrounding specialties, entertainment experiences, souvenir purchases, and even help tourists plan self-driving tours, walking tours, and parent-child trips according to seasonal changes. The specific route and itinerary of the tour. On the ground, visitors can also find large-scale signs and ground guide signs corresponding to the planned route. In this way, online and offline are closely combined, making a travel guide in advance becomes very simple. In contrast, many domestic “donkey friends” turn to forums and ask netizens, and the information they may get is not complete and timely. It can be seen that in terms of promoting the development of the cultural tourism industry, there is still great potential for online channels to be tapped.


The epidemic situation is a comprehensive assessment of the new online economic model

If new products and models are to mature and take root, they must pass the market ’s full inspection . The new coronary pneumonia epidemic has created conditions for problem detection and resolution to some extent.

With the resumption of work in all walks of life, more and more people are using remote office. Many people marveled at the fact that so much work can actually be done without the company. Worldwide, telecommuting is not a new concept. According to a study completed by American economist Charles Gascon and others, in 2017, approximately 3.4 million people in the United States mainly worked from home (Working from Home), accounting for 3% of the U.S. full-time workforce. This does not include part-time workers, Freelancers and workers working in non-residential environments such as cafes and shared spaces. The benefits of remote office are very intuitive: ease traffic pressure, reduce car exhaust, shorten commuting time, and more family companionship … These can also be linked to a healthy and happy life ideal. After the epidemic, remote office should have considerable development potential.

But it must be admitted that the development of remote office in China is relatively slow because of many bottlenecks. In addition to the factors of industrial structure, technical conditions, management models, and infrastructure will have an impact on its application. In the past two months, a large number of online office meetings have caused considerable pressure on the network bandwidth. Poor video and stuttering voice naturally affect the communication effect. How to ensure the confidentiality and security of content is also an urgent problem to be solved. Problems. Since the working status of employees cannot be understood in real time, enterprises may also face the problem of inefficiency in remote office work. Therefore, remote office work in an epidemic situation can be regarded as a perfect time to test this model, and the various problems exposed in it, then It has created opportunities for companies providing office solutions to improve technology and improve services.

In addition, the ideal remote office also puts forward requirements for the living environment. Of course, the epidemic makes Many children are unable to enter the school and only cause a large number of “rollover scenes”; but under normal circumstances, there will also be many young parents facing The problem of needing to take care of children while working-this is especially true in the context of letting go of two children. This is a complex problem that also involves areas such as concentrated child care in the community and the construction of shared spaces. It is necessary to optimize the layout of urban functions and develop remote office In the process of weighing the pros and cons, overall consideration.

The catering industry has also been tested in the epidemic. Here I want to talk about Takeaway catering . Many mid- to high-end catering companies consider developing take-out as an option to deal with a sharp decline in the number of dine-in customers. In fact, the take-out market has formed a large scale before the outbreak, but the main components are fast food, beverages and snacks. If the high-end dinner catering enters the take-out industry, it means an upgrade. This is not easy. At present, most take-out is to pack the dine-in dishes in the lunch box, and the two are exactly the same. The result is that the take-out The quality and experience will be quite different from that of dine-in. The dishes are packed in boxes, bumped all the way and (maybe the method is not so correct) after reheating, if I will give the chefs a tasting, I am afraid they will frown.

Mid-end and high-end restaurant dishes are going to takeout and need to undergo secondary development. “Nikkei” series of documentaries “Dawn of the Earth” has specifically tracked a “third-party” delivery company. Its model is not simple delivery, but is deeply involved in product design, helping local restaurants to make classic dishes into lunch boxes, which involves cold and hot tastes. Changes, image placement, logistics, transportation, packaging and other aspects of consideration and optimization. The reason is not difficult to understand: mid-to-high-end catering takeaways must adopt a new market positioning and develop different industries from fast food, because the latter More mature. Doing product innovation around takeout, its benefits are not only in the present. Usually due to the queue in the storeCustomers who give up for too long can also experience the experience in another way. The popularity brought by online takeout can also in turn diversion for physical stores.


Distance education has also been a topic of high concern in recent times. Before the outbreak, “online courses” were actually very common, but they were mainly concentrated in areas such as tutoring, oral English, and continuing education. At present, there are still many difficulties in transplanting the full-time education, especially the scenes of elementary and middle school classrooms, online. In the media reports, many teachers complained that the lesson preparation was more troublesome, and urged their children to take online lessons as an extra task for many parents. Some students lacked stable online conditions, not to mention teaching operations such as experimental operations and closed-book exams. The same effect. Teaching modules based on virtual reality (AR) technology may be able to solve some problems, but only a few universities can develop them. High-quality distance education clearly needs more mature technologies and models. On the one hand, everyone is looking forward to the normal start of school. On the other hand, this “net class” experience also sets requirements and directions for the subsequent infrastructure construction and the development of 5G-based teaching applications.

The new online economy experiencing the epidemic: Accelerating into the opportunity period

The special period brought about by the epidemic situation must not only face up to the huge impact on the economy and society, but also find new breakthroughs and growth points, and seek a new round of development momentum. Looking at the performance of various new models and new concepts in combination with mid- to long-term and normal market demand characteristics can enable us to have a deeper understanding of its development potential and supporting conditions, clarify the next direction and focus, seize opportunities and accelerate development .

First, we must summarize the experience of using online mode in the epidemic to promote upstream and downstream collaboration and improve the efficiency of the industrial chain, as an opportunity to promote the in-depth application of the new generation of technology in the production field To improve the level of intelligence and digitization. At the same time, it is necessary to promote the concept of information interconnection and data sharing from the field of administrative supervision to government services, and build a closer and more efficient government-enterprise collaboration.

Second, for the problems and bottlenecks displayed in the remote office, remote education and other application scenarios during the epidemic, we must analyze the reasons and find shortcomings, and take long-term development as the requirement Establish a better institutional environment and infrastructure.

Third, digital resources such as online cultural tourism and other digital resources built in response to the epidemic should fully tap its value for medium- and long-term industrial development. Comprehensively improve the quality and level of online information servicesIndustrial development provides new opportunities.

Fourth, enterprises affected by the epidemic, while taking temporary measures and minimizing losses, can think about the changes that informationization may bring to management, Survive the advantages and eliminate the disadvantages, and promote the improvement and optimization of efficiency. Innovative methods and models in the epidemic situation should be combined with the normal market demand and considered as the content of business improvement and expansion.

(Author Zhang Hao is an associate researcher at the Institute of Financial Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an expert at the China Business Federation)