The pandemic has affected businesses of every type, all over the world. In our series on pandemic culture, we took a detailed look at how many offline retailers have begun selling online in order to survive. But for experience-based businesses, the move into the e-commerce arena has been more of a challenge. In this article, we look at how they’ve adjusted.

The global pandemic arrived like an uninvited whirlwind, causing devastation and mayhem on a scale not even the most pessimistic of people could have predicted. “It’s been devastating” says Francesca Bianco, speaking to me over Skype from her home in Italy. “This is something our business could never have imagined”.

Francesca and her husband Domenico own Puglia Kitchen1, a blossoming business that offers those holidaying in Italy an authentic Italian dining experience through cooking classes and private catering. Domenico is the chef at the heart of it all – born and raised in the rustic Puglian countryside, cooking with recipes passed down through generations of Biancos, and using fresh ingredients from the family’s farm.

With the travel industry on pause, the business has seen its customer base all but disappear. “We’ve been affected massively because our market is 95% tourists from outside Puglia and Italy, so the fact that there’s no non-essential travel allowed has had a huge impact.”

2020 will certainly be a year none of us will forget. Seemingly overnight, most of the world went into lockdown, and we were all left longing for the small joys we once took for granted. As we all hunkered down at home guarding our precious hauls of toilet paper, we turned our attention to online shopping, which we did in record numbers. Global e-commerce saw an enormous rise in demand as shopping habits changed and we rushed to buy fitness equipment, bread machines, and no doubt many more well-intentioned-but-destined-to-be-used-just-once products.

For traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers, going digital to sell online seemed an obvious transition – with the ‘bricks & clicks’ model now a well-established practice. But for the millions of experience-based businesses across the world, adapting to lockdown has required a little more creativity. From virtual bars to online festivals; ballet classes on Zoom to piano lessons on YouTube – innovative thinking has kept things going. Even dating hasn’t been left behind – recently, Bumble partnered with Airbnb to host online experiences for daters to attend together.

The entertainment-experience sector has seemingly adapted well – with a ready-made audience of bored consumers eager for distraction. Secret Cinema³ is known for its sell-out immersive film events, where attendees can enjoy a screening in surroundings that use live music and props to reflect the setting of the film – in the case of the Star Wars event, lucky superfans got to mingle with actors dressed as stormtroopers. When normal business was suspended due to the pandemic, the company went to great lengths to replicate at least some of the magic of its events in people’s homes with the launch of its Secret Sofa series. Every Friday, it streamed a movie for fans to watch simultaneously – giving a feeling of togetherness whilst apart. In the run up to it, the company sent out character and costume ideas, activities, and suggestions for food and drink to enjoy whilst watching. Not to be outdone, the major movie studios cut deals with streaming giants such as Apple, Amazon and Sky to carry movie-theater releases for rental at higher prices than the norm.

Yet, as time has gone on, Anna’s been able to find her groove with the online sessions and adapt to the 'new normal' of today. “Once I got to understand how to work with the new situation, it’s been good – I ensure my clients create space, go for a walk, or listen to music after a session to manage the transition and look after themselves. Plus, I’ve been able to reach my clients more flexibly and easily.” Likewise, her clients have discovered benefits too. “They can find it less intense and intimate. For those clients who feel anxious [attending face-to-face sessions], being in their own space has enabled them to go a little deeper and process more than they might usually do.”

And what of the future role of online to her business? “I feel I’ve broken potential barriers that I had originally felt would stand in the way of effective therapy work. Previously, I might have considered working online as a temporary option whilst people were away on short breaks but now I would feel comfortable seeing someone entirely online. It enables therapy to be more accessible for those who work unusual hours, who travel a lot and for those who simply can't get out very easily. It’s given me confidence to consider the option of doing talks and other support group work online too.”

As Anna’s experience shows, the human interaction required by so many of healthcare’s services can make them a challenge to transfer online, but during this time, necessity has given them a place. Globally, ‘digital Doctor’ apps – a relatively new technology – have seen a huge uptake in users. Luke Buhl-Nielsen is VP of operations at Swedish company Kry⁷, which allows paying customers to consult a qualified health professional within minutes via their smartphone. He says the pandemic has fast-tracked the sector’s legislation. “We made 10 years’ worth of progress on that front in a few weeks”⁸. The pandemic brought many new customers to the technology – those who may not have considered it before but will continue using it once they experience its benefits. 

This new hybrid approach to experiential business is a common theme and one that all brands in this space should be looking to establish for the longer-term benefit of their company – broadening their reach beyond the local or visiting customer. Whilst it’s been a challenge for some, the pivot to online has been a smoother process for others.

Emarketeers⁹, which provides face-to-face digital-marketing training courses, adapted quickly to the lockdown by making its content available as an online academy. Initially, the business focused its time on ensuring this change was relayed to potential customers. “Delivering online meant a big change to our messaging in ads and site metadata; we did a lot of SEO and PPC work”, founder Jonathan Saipe explained to me over email. “What has pleasantly surprised us is how we can deliver as good a learning experience online as we do offline. We are fully aware that concentration levels and distractions play a big role in online learning, so there's a strong chance that we will modify our content to be delivered in bite-sized chunks, rather than a full-day, should we continue to deliver online. The future role online will play in the business is dependent on what sort of world the pandemic leaves behind. If the ‘new normal’ means working remotely, then indeed our business model may permanently shift in favor of online delivery”, Saipe adds.