Spotlight on Innovation Head lines
CRAFT BREWING AND DISTILLING INDUSTRY SWITCH FOCUS
CORONAVIRUS MAY CHANGE RESTAURANTS FOREVER
SHOPIFY IS A PANDEMIC SUCCESS STORY
DIGITAL ECONOMY IN DEMAND FOR MORE TECH WORKERS
R estaurant owners big and small lay out their path back to the new normal of dining out and hope to be able to reopen dining areas across Canada in the coming weeks. Restaurant chain executives have been meeting with franchisees to map out a return to the new normal, starting with reopening dining rooms as soon as provincial governments say it is okay for customers to sit down in restaurants again. The new normal of dining in revolves around tables to limit the number of customers in the restaurant. The new normal will call for widened spaces between tables. It will also require them to add more staff as tables, as well as chairs will need to be sanitized after each use. Limits will also be placed for the number of customers al- lowed at any given table to no more than four. Additional changes will include making face masks part of the standard staff uniform. It is all about innovation in these times as drive-thru staff at Tim Hortons already have a specialized tray with cupholders for passing coffee to custom- ers without any chance of touching them. Other have added sneeze shields at checkout counters and will begin conducting temperature checks on employees before they start work. Now the question is, will this be enough to bring the customer back inside and not increase the curve. Time will tell.
A fter reporting first-quarter earnings, Shopi - fy Inc. seems to be adjusting it’s plan to take the businesses to new heights while others struggle to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Shopify Inc. recently surpassed the Royal Bank of Canada to become the most valuable public com - pany in Canada. As the company has been de - veloping new products and software features for its merchants such as curbside pickup for online orders and a new email marketing tool as tradi- tional businesses switch to e-commerce to keep the businesses going. The company is also expanding its suite of point- of-sale offerings in Canada. Announcing its new tap-and-chip payment terminal, which will let re - tailers accept debit and credit card transactions north of the border, a move the comes just a week after it unveiled a new POS software system. Shopify was born as an e-commerce company, but they’ve had a hand in physical retail since 2013, when the company first introduced a point-of-sale kit including a cash drawer, receipt printer, card reader and the software to make it all work.
A study by the Information and Communi - cations Technology Council (ICTC), found that employment of information and com- munications technology professionals outpaced the economy last year six-to-one. According to a new ICTC report, blockchain, arti - ficial intelligence, 5G mobile networks, 3D print - ing and virtual reality are creating a need for dig- ital skills that will see a demand for an estimated 216,000 additional technology workers by 2021. As more industries recognize the importance of a digital strategy, competition for tech workers has increased. ICTC highlighted transportation, retail, healthcare, finance, and manufacturing as sectors where demand is ramping up.
C raft Brewers and Distillers from across North America switch from producing suds and spirits during the uncertainty and madness of the COVID-19 outbreak to produce hand sanitizer to do their part to help flatten the curve. The innovate companies are using their unique skills and knowledge to quickly produce safe and effec- tive hand sanitizers that will hopefully keep us all safe until such time as those in the actual hand san- itizer industry can catch up to meet the demand of these products during this crisis.
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JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
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