Impact of the new coronavirus, and the Work from Home

I think the global economy is becoming worse steadily by the surge of the effects of the second and third waves of the new coronaviruses. In Japan, it may be better to say that we manage to clear our daily life by wearing a mask and trying not to be as dense as possible.

However, it is no exaggeration to say that the lifestyle has been forced to undergo a dramatic conversion as a thunderbolt from the blue. And I would say that the prominent phenomenon is work from home. The encouragement of “Working From Home” has been advocated for approximately 20 years, and companies have been making many trials. But, Not much progress has been made so far.

However, things have been changed by the effects of the new coronavirus, then “Work From Home (WFH)” became established in overnight. Also, although you might worry forced WFH, it may be the DNA of Japanese people in a sense that it is the same for others, I think the pretext of  “it cannot be helped” made them accept it so.

Establishing “Work From Home” and creating themes

Our lifestyle has been changed by “WFH”, and at the same time, the way we purchase daily necessities and durable consumer goods has changed significantly. Although there is no change in the content of the products itself, there are reports that the number of purchase methods via the Internet has increased ten times compared to the past.
It can be said that the ability to develop products has declined for the development side, due to the increase in supply, because products have become easier to obtain through the Internet.

For Properly, just as the lifestyle changed completely, it would have been an opportunity to introduce new ideas to product development. Still, on the contrary, managers and developers chose their lazy direction. It would be no exaggeration to say that we missed the opportunity because of that.

Even said so, as this WFH would be becoming established, the time will surely come when they will prefer new products.
 I would estimate that it might start around the summer of 2021.  I think it is necessary to create new product themes that match to this timing.