1、March 2020 How Chinas consumer companies managed through the COVID-19 crisis: A virtual roundtable Xin Huang, Alex Sawaya, Daniel Zipser Greater China Consumer and Retail Practice Jan Craps Motonobu Miyake Jean-Michel Moutin Feng Hua Song Belinda Wong Dr. Wenzhong Zhang Jan Craps is Zone President f
2、or Asia Pacific, AB InBev, and Chief Executive Officer Motonobu Miyake, CEO of Lawson (China) Holdings; Jean-Michel Moutin, Asia COO at LVMH Perfumes and Cosmetics; Feng Hua Song, Vice President of Erdos Group and GM of Erdos 1436 Brand; Belinda Wong, Chairman and CEO of Starbucks China; and Dr. Wen
3、zhong Zhang, Chairman of Wumart and Founder of Dmall. They offer perspectives on the chief difficulties they faced, the measures that proved most successful in mitigating the human and business impacts of the virus, and how their operational emphasis shifted through the epidemic. They agreed that cr
4、eating, communicating, and delivering new business plans in an uncertain environment was among the most difficult challenges they have ever faced. Acting fast to provide protective gear and sanitizer, additional insurance, and other health-related benefits, emerged as the most effective strategic re
5、sponse, as this was crucial for maintaining morale. As the crisis deepened, digital communication with employees, both of safety measures and operational changes, and messages of support to customers, became vital in keeping strategic responses on track. With stores closed, businesses doubled-down o
6、n digital initiatives, including contextualized WeChat campaigns, online-to-offline and omnichannel sales, community commerce, and pure ecommerce. When stores reopened, contactless in-store ordering systems helped customers and employees feel safe. The respondents also said planning to immediately r