Human beings and their enabling technologies must evolve in the face of adversity to ensure the our continued survival. Indeed, we were all surprised at the start of the March lockdown when we were being confined to our homes for a long period. This is, however, necessary to ensure our safety.

It was a huge and surprising development in our evolution. Psychologists don't tell us about the 'fight, flight or stay put' syndrome. Humans have been fleeing other marauding humans, volcanic eruptions, floods, tornados and more since the dawn of time. COVID-19, however, has shown us how our homes can indeed be our castles.

And herein lies the opportunity. Marketers should have spent the last three months developing all manners of new products and services that enable us to feel safe within our homes.

Emergencies like the one we are experiencing now are set to hit us in continuous waves as the planet becomes more crowded and the transmission of viruses becomes easier.

There's hope on the horizon, however. Can you imagine the current reality if South Africa's mobile network operators had not spent the last three decades building base stations across the length and breadth of the land?

Their investment in some 10 000 cellular towers, and the entire mobile ecosystem to back it, means the vast majority of us without high-speed fixed-line fibre or ADSL at home could safely retire behind those four walls and still conduct the lion's share of our necessary daily business.

Mobile is eminently-suited to serving stay-at-home populations. The mobile device is personal, which means an actual human being is reached and not simply a space or place.

GPS and base station triangulation means that your device tells marketers and others where you are. Prepaid cellular paired with mobile banking means that one's mobile connection essentially functions independently. It can be recharged at home, in seconds, without the need for bills.

Mobile technology is also a limitless source of innovation. As marketers, we should have been using the period from March until now to roll out new mobile-first services that recognise that the world has changed.

Consumers now want to be able to conduct their relationship with their commercial partners in new ways when things go pear-shaped again. Yes, we'll be back at the malls soon, but it's clear many of us liked the stay-at-home life and want to be provided with the tools to carry on a way of living that makes a lot of sense.

It's no surprise that retailers led the lockdown-related innovation. Unfortunately, not all of them got it right. The Checkers home shopping experience, however, is outstanding.

They've incorporated all the elements that consumers want when ordering goods from home:
  • a dedicated app
  • speed of delivery
  • visual display of items
  • tracking capabilities, and
  • easy re-ordering options.
One of their competitors' home shopping service, conversely, looks exactly the same as when I tried it in the early 2000s. When done well, a home delivery service for groceries is like having an extra till. With such tight margins in retail, another revenue source should be a priority.

Now that we have spent three months experiencing a different commercial reality, let's work hard as marketers at cementing the potentially-profitable changes in consumer behaviour that we've seen during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mobile is the perfect technology to help us serve new consumer wants. Let's get gripped in a new spirit of mobile-first innovation that goes beyond home shopping and helps us feel safe, productive and fulfilled within our own homes.

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