Retail has been at the forefront of trying to interpret what a post-COVID world could look like.

Retailers have been planning how to restart physical operations as the pandemic has worn on, but now are also navigating the need to remain flexible, and revise their initial reopening plans, given the possibility of having to revert to more restrictive measures as infection rates change.

They are refining their priorities as such, looking to make more strategic use of their stories while prioritizing ecommerce for a COVID-impacted consumer base.

A survey of retail executives found most of them expect store traffic to return to pre-crisis levels, but not for at least several months after stores reopen—and, despite that expectation, most retail leaders are also realizing that reopening is not predictable, and they must remain flexible at least until a vaccine is readily distributable, and perhaps longer.

In order to succeed, retailers must …

As the world economy ebbs and flows with the effects of COVID-19, the financial services industry has also had to reprioritize and strategize digitalization as it adapts to this new normal.

Like many traditional industries, financial institutions are deeply rooted in in-person interaction and have been historically slower in their digital adoption.

With COVID-19 however, a gradual shift into a more digital space is no longer a luxury any business can afford.

Financial firms must adapt and respond to changes in their business models, and do so from a stance of risk management and organizational resiliency. The checklist below offers financial business leaders a step-by-step guide to doing just that.

Build from the inside out

Avoid analysis paralysis as to where to begin and start with internal considerations, like updating systems and databases inconsistencies, preparing incident management protocols, and creating a concrete system for contact tracing.

1: Establish internal consistency …

From healthcare organizations sprinting to implement telehealth appointments, to food banks transforming physical wait lines into scheduled texts, there are countless Community Heroes innovating to serve more people during this time of crisis.

Behind many stories of recovery and triumph stands a group of nonprofits and social enterprises working to change lives for the better through technology. These Community Heroes are leading through digital change as they respond and adapt during COVID-19.

Here are some organizations that are continually innovating to help communities adapt to and thrive in the COVID-19 era.

Crisis response

With the ever-changing landscape and effects of COVID-19 in our communities, organizations are using communications to provide a line of support to help people recovering from a personal crisis.

Since COVID began, Trans Lifeline has received nearly 100,000 calls at their peer-support and crisis hotline. It is the only trans support service in the country with all …

The uncertainty created by COVID-19 has sent ripples through the world economy. The financial services industry has been impacted in major and unexpected ways, and has forced industry leaders and company decision makers to rapidly adapt, respond, and evolve to meet the demands of an unpredictable and rapidly morphing crisis.

To better understand how leaders across all industries are facing this new challenge, Twilio surveyed more than 2,500 enterprise decision makers in the US, UK, Germany, Australia, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Singapore about how COVID-19 is impacting their digital engagement strategies.

Let’s look deeper at how this global pandemic is affecting the digital communication strategies of financial services, focusing on some key areas:

Almost all companies are looking for new ways of engaging customers and stakeholders as a result of COVID-19; 60 percent of financial services companies say the pandemic sped up their digital transformation a great deal.

COVID-19 has …

In the wake of COVID-19, decade-long digital transformation roadmaps got compressed to just weeks, and for some, even days.

The impact on healthcare, for both obvious and less apparent reasons, was massive.

To better understand the effects of COVID-19 on businesses, Twilio surveyed 100 healthcare enterprise decision makers in the US, UK, Germany, Australia, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Singapore, about how COVID-19 is impacting their digital engagement strategies.

The survey uncovered some powerful insights, including:

• The healthcare industry in general was the most affected by COVID-19—among the overwhelming majority of respondents who said coronavirus accelerated their digital strategy, it did so by six years on average;
• Purse strings loosened as organizations looked to quickly implement better digital communication strategies;
• Healthcare providers implemented a variety of new technologies to meet this unprecedented demand and change, including expanding telehealth opportunities, self-service, chat, and more.

Let’s explore further.

An accelerant unlike any other …

COVID-19-induced shelter-in-place orders and social distancing have driven a drastic increase in online shopping and remote shopper engagement since the onset of the novel coronavirus.

And the trend toward online, omnichannel retail experiences shows no signs of slowing down: consumers intend to continue to shop online even as the crisis subsides, with some shifting almost entirely to online. Many have also adopted more digital and contactless services, including buy online-pick up in store (BOPiS) along with curbside pickup, delivery, and drive-through.

To better understand the effects of COVID-19 on businesses, Twilio surveyed 368 retail and ecommerce enterprise decision makers in the US, UK, Germany, Australia, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Singapore about how COVID-19 is impacting digital engagement strategies.

Overall, responses indicated a few main themes:

• Digital transformation was accelerated, in some cases drastically, in response to COVID-19: 70 percent of retail leaders say the pandemic sped …

In the last 20 years, companies have transformed as they adapt to new customer engagement demands born out of the internet and growth of mobile.

The onset of COVID-19 and its impact on the entire world, though, led companies to shrink decade-long digital transformation roadmaps to just months—even weeks.

To better understand the effects of COVID-19 on businesses, Twilio surveyed more than 2,500 enterprise decision makers in the US, UK, Germany, Australia, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Singapore about how COVID-19 is impacting their digital engagement strategies.

The responses show that as companies reacted rapidly to ensure business continuity in the face of a global pandemic, three long-held myths about digital transformation were shattered:

1. Digital transformation requires lengthy advance planning;
2. Digital transformation takes a long time;
3. Massive barriers to evolution prevent change from happening.

Social distancing has given rise to a sudden expansion in digital customer engagement: 92 …

The spring of 2020 has been a wake-up call.

Systemic racism and the unjust use of force against Black Americans entered public visibility again after several high-profile killings by police inspired national protests and calls for justice.

A renewed focus on distributed activism may bring meaningful change to advocacy. Leaders must rapidly evolve their campaigns to ensure knowledge and techniques are shared across the movement.

As a provider of open source technology for advocacy organizations, I have studied trends in campaign design and assembled a set of best practices from my experience and observation. This is not exhaustive, and those on the ground working in diverse communities hold the real expertise; not just those with specialized skills and access to large platforms.

Methods of engagement

Technology has made it easy for anyone to get involved with advocacy campaigns.

Online organizing at scale depends on easy entries onto the “ladder of …

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, health services teams around the world are trying to serve patients and their families without putting their health at-risk with in-person visits. Telehealth is making care accessible for those recovering from and managing a symptomatic case of coronavirus, as well as those requiring healthcare services for other health issues.

In New York City, one of the areas hardest hit by the virus early on, major healthcare providers have adapted rapidly to meet patient demand while keeping patients and providers alike safe. These patient-centric trends, though, were underway long before COVID-19, and have effectively been accelerated by the “lightbulb moment” created by the novel coronavirus.

Twilio’s Global Head of Healthcare Services Susan Collins spoke with David Kerwar, Chief Product Officer and head of consumer digital innovation at the Mount Sinai health system—one of the largest health systems in New York—to discuss how …