The Covid-19 pandemic has been pushing forward digitization across the world. Thanks to a combination of demand surge, technology support and supply-side market reforms, a wide range of economic activities in China are undertaking a digital transformation as more businesses switch from offline to online and people are embracing unprecedentedly diversified methods to work and obtain information.

Highlighting different trends of digitization across industries, Lei Ying, assistant professor of marketing at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, urges firms to re-evaluate the market so as to cope with the structural changes in consumers' demand and calls attention to the "structural unemployment" problem as a consequence of such changes.

Each one has his or her own slideshows of hardships from last year. Time calls 2020 "the worst year eve" and draws a red "X" over it on the cover of its December 14 issue. The world has been fumbling in uncertainty since early 2020 and only recently did people start to see the light.

Now that 2020 is finally behind us, let's review the profound changes that happened to our lives.

DRIVEN BY DEMAND, MET BY SUPPLY, SUPPORTTED BY TECHNOLOGY

After social activities ground to a halt after the coronavirus hit, people began seeking innovations to keep life and work moving. In the early half of 2020, hundreds of millions of users embraced remote working and online education as users of various online education platforms almost doubled and productivity software specialized in online office work and videoconference soared in popularity.

Meanwhile, food and healthcare were posing even more urgent demand. Stimulated during the pandemic, delivery services expanded from meals to drugs and books and almost everything else that money can buy. In February 2020, delivery worker for online orders entered China's national system as an officially recognized occupation. Counted in the millions, China's delivery workers are the backbone of the country's e-commerce industry that aims to meet people's demands.

In terms of healthcare, more people were obtaining healthcare advice on the Internet, sharing tips and online courses among families and friends. In the first half of 2020, users of online healthcare services took up nearly one third of all Internet users in China, which only happened because the increasing demand were met by a matching volume of supply of healthcare services. Last year more than half of doctors reportedly conducted diagnosis, treatment or patient-visiting via the Internet.

During lockdowns, people had to explore new ways to meet demand in day-to-day life by resorting to the Internet. But it is worth noting that only after more commodities are covered by delivery and more doctors are conducting online healthcare consultation that users would start to find such online services increasingly convenient. Behind all these changes is the solid foundation of digital technology. Demand alone is not enough for us to see such tremendous transformation. Only when both demand and supply sides embrace digitization can digital technology be applied in more scenarios, cater to more specific needs and offer people more convenience.

DEEPER DIGITIZATION

What will life be like when this pandemic is over? In terms of hours spent online, it seems digitization is rolling back a bit. While people's average weekly duration of using the Internet soared to 31 hours during the pandemic from the 28 hours before, now it is falling back to the pre-pandemic level. People are gradually embracing offline life. But does it mean digitization is slowing down? Absolutely not.

While people spend less time online as offline economy revives after Covid-19, digitization is nonetheless embedding deeper into people's lives.

The progress of digitization cannot be gauged by how many hours people stay online. The allocation of time, the use of digital tools and people's connection to the digital economy are all key measures. Nowadays an increasing share of retail sales are realized through online orders. More items are being sold online and e-commerce is becoming ever more omnipotent.

Online shopping, online gaming, short videos, remote working, and online healthcare services, according to CNNIC, are all keeping increasing in popularity since the pandemic. However, hours allocated to online news and live streaming display a decreasing post-pandemic trend. Different fields are experiencing different trends in this digital transformation, and people's demand is witnessing structural changes. Firms need to respond accordingly by adjusting their products to reflect changing demands and prepare for structural changes to the market. And the key issue of structural unemployment alongside the transformation is also worth our attention.

The pandemic will end, but the profound changes digitization has brought to people's lives will remain. The methods we resort to make day-to-day decisions are increasing, efficiency in work and study are growing, and more consumers and businesses are connecting to the digital economy. We at Guanghua are probing these structural changes, studying topics such as how people make choices in the presence of increasing options, how to spend the time freed from boosted efficiency, and whether the digital boom with grand connectivity will lead to economies of scale or overload inefficiency.

It remains an open discussion whether 2020 is the worst year ever, but it is clear that people and the world are embracing 2021 with better strengths.