Following the movement restrictions placed by governments across the world, more and more companies are adopting the work-from-home trend and are well on their way to making it permanent in a post-Covid world.
However, working from home has raised several concerns, one of it being technology. Not all are equipped with the right tool for a seamless transition. Despite talks about the rising adoption of cloud services, a hassle-free work experience still requires the right technology.
According to a study conducted by Ipsos, 62 percent of Malaysians faced difficulty getting work done at home due to inadequate home office setup or equipment.
One of the biggest trends that Canon Malaysia is foreseeing this year is that most companies will continue to move to a centralised ‘cloud’ platform to efficiently back up and store their information.
While companies can invest in adequate infrastructure to boost data accessibility, employees must also be quick to adapt and become more tech-savvy. While the transition can be far from easy, it is necessary for efficient and work performance.
Understanding that the transition will be more difficult for SMEs across the country, Canon Malaysia has reaffirmed its commitment to help them brace through the current situation.
“At Canon, we provide end-to-end solutions and services to all our customers. From deploying the entire system to helping our customers with their digital transformation journey or transition from current to future systems,” Sandy Lee, Assistant Director Of The Consumer System Products (CSP) Division at Canon Marketing Malaysia says.
“We aim at addressing customer’s digital transformation needs through the adoption of technologies and solutions. Hence, we are consistently looking into forming collaborations with strategic business partners to ensure we can bring solutions that would boost work efficiently and profitability for SMEs,” she adds.
Canon also understands that there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution that can cut across all sectors and businesses hence the company is also extending their product range that meets all needs, from home-use to professional level.
“During the pandemic, sales for our home-use printers surged exponentially. The nationwide lockdown has prompted work-at-home professionals and e-learning students to seek out printers like never before,” Lee tells BusinessToday.
Approaching the New Normal The Right Way
Canon has urged businesses to be open to try out new methods to reach their customers and be steadfast at understanding their customers’ needs. “Always stay connected with customers to discover the best solutions to help them. This principle applies to all industries.”
Lee has also pointed out that sustainable communications are essential at any time, even more so during a pandemic as people are now keeping indoors. Driving consistent conversations displays brand authenticity and builds trust among important stakeholders.
On top of consistent communications, businesses will also need to look into digital solutions that deepen human connection during these trying times. Many organisations have prioritised this as an important objective, rethinking their values, operations and infrastructure to transform themselves into a human-centred enterprise.
“Businesses should also look into optimisation by collaborating efficiently & effectively with strong business partners. Collaborate with loyal business partners for mutual benefits. Working even more closely with our dealers and retailers to formulate the right go-to-market strategies as well as looking into collaborations with other brands,” Lee shares.
How did Canon brace through the pandemic?
“We pivoted our go-to-market model by digitalising our offering from offline to online. During the first MCO, we strengthened our e-commerce presence offering through Lazada and Shopee. We also took strides to digitalise our customer service by implementing additional customer touchpoints, such as conducting webinars to educate customers and potential customers on our diverse range of solutions.
“Canon remains focused on our key product offerings through an open innovation approach for R&D based on partnerships with external organisations. The past year has made us work even more closely with our dealers and retailers to formulate the right go-to-market strategies and bring solutions that meet the new normal needs,” Lee tells BusinessToday.
After a year of challenges, the pivot undertaken is definitely in favour of Canon. The company will soon expand their omnichannel retail strategy by launching their very own e-store. This comes after having launched their flagship stores on Shopee and Lazada.
This year, Canon will also be announcing a new range of ink tank systems printers before the end of 1H2021.
“With more and more people moving towards working from home and e-learning, Canon foresees potential uptake in this system of printers to increase,” Lee says.
Canon also launched a loyalty programme in Q4 2020, focusing on toners to encourage and educate consumers about the importance of using genuine toners. All Canon’s genuine toners are encrusted with a holographic security label on their packaging. To verify the authenticity of the toner, customers will just need to scratch the label and scan the disclosed QR code. Ultimately, this process eases customer’s concern about buying non-genuine.
From the success of 2020, Canon is looking to grow its rewards offering by collaborating with other service providers to feature suitable benefits and rewards for a more superior customer experience.
