Montréal, April 17, 2020 – The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal has unveiled the highlights from its fourth COVID-19 survey, which targeted companies that have maintained their activities or plan to resume them in the short term. This survey of 325 respondents, 88% of whom were SMEs, was designed to analyze how these businesses are organizing and adapting their work during the COVID-19 crisis.
Telework and online services
The survey reveals that telework and online services have allowed almost half of respondents (48%) to continue running their businesses. A similar percentage (46.8%) reported that their employees already had the ability and tools to work remotely before the crisis. However, almost two in five respondents (39.4%) indicated that they have had to speed up their digital shift or adapt their practices to allow employees to work remotely. For almost half of respondents, the increase in telework either did not change (35.9%) or even led to an increase (9.5%) in productivity.
Ecommerce
The survey also gave us information about the respondents’ use of ecommerce. More than three in four respondents (75.6%) did not have a transactional website when the crisis struck. However, 13.1% indicated that they are currently working on setting up this type of site. More than one in five respondents (20.6%) reported that they have not increased their range of online products and services due to the crisis because, even though it is in their interest, they do not have the human or financial resource capacity to do so. In relation to financial resources, 69.4% of respondents who intend to start or expand their online products or services believe that the required investment will be significant or moderate.
Production and procurement
The survey revealed that the crisis is having a real impact on production and procurement. Nearly half of the respondents (47%) noted a significant or moderate downward impact on their company’s production capacity, more than one third (34.7%) have observed a significant or moderate impact on the ability of suppliers to make deliveries, and 37.2% reported a significant or moderate decline or disruption in supply chains. Furthermore, 36.7% of respondents who have implemented physical distancing report that these measures have increased operating costs for their business.
This survey data was collected from Thursday, April 9 to Wednesday, April 15, 2020. The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal will continue to survey the members of its network on a regular basis in the coming weeks.
About the survey
The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal conducted this online survey among its members and network from April 9 to 15. This survey targeted companies that have maintained their activities or are planning to resume them in the short term and was designed to analyze how they are organizing and adapting their activities during the COVID-19 crisis.
About the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM)
With a network of over 8,000 members, the CCMM is active on two fronts: being the voice of the Montréal business community and delivering specialized services to businesses and their representatives. With its finger on the pulse of current events, it acts on issues that are decisive for the prosperity of the city’s businesses. With the support of the Acclr experts, the CCMM’s goal is to accelerate the creation and growth of businesses of all sizes, at home and around the world.
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Source:
Julie Serero
Advisor, Media Relations
Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4042
jserero@ccmm.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/chambremontreal
Twitter: @chambremontreal
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