Innovating in pandemic, around a third of companies will have new products

Nearly half of companies surveyed were evaluating acquisitions, says PwC India report

An automobile company started offering electric vehicles to disinfect factories, malls and offices by fogging and spraying to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It isn’t the only one with a new product range.

Around one out of every three companies expects to develop new products or offer new services as they recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a PwC India report released on Thursday. The audit and tax consultancy firm conducted an online survey of senior management personnel between 17 June and 10 July. There were 225 respondents across industries.

Many of those with plans to start something new hope to do so in areas close to their core competence, according to the report.

 

“The key consideration for the development ...is to widen the offerings and thus diversify risk and ensure resilience. A significant majority of the respondents are focusing on incremental and not disruptive changes by offering adjacent...(products or services),” it said.

The report added that the business environment is tougher. It’s more expensive, competition has increased and customers are more sensitive to price. All these and other factors have contributed to a tougher environment. 


 

The report noted that consolidations seems nigh. Nearly half of the organisations surveyed were evaluating acquisitions.

 

“More than two-thirds of the potential acquirers are evaluating consolidation opportunities to strategically grow their businesses to fill gaps in products, delivery channels, etc,” it said.

Revenue numbers will be back to pre-covid levels only by June 2021, according to 82 per cent of those surveyed.