Digital companies adapt to outbreak conditions
Digital services have been offered by domestic Internet companies and retailers amid the the pneumonia outbreak to connect offline merchants with users.
Online education is expected to continue to see steady growth as schools are to resume remote lessons next week.
More than 50 million students are taking lessons through Alibaba's online enterprise service platform DingTalk covering more than 300 urban and rural areas.
Chief Executive Chen Hang said that it's supporting 43 million enterprises and organizations to shift toward digital working procedures.
"The efficiency of remote coworking mechanisms has greatly improved thanks to the prevalence of digital practices before transport is fully resumed," he noted.
More than 1 million companies are currently using third-party software through DingTalk's open platform and it hopes to foster 100 third-party developers with annual income over 10 million yuan (US$1.42 million).
It also offers new functions for enterprises such as a customer relationship management module, online document editing and personal knowledge banks.
“The pick-up of digital services signals a new development cycle for remote work, lifestyles as well as the adoption of new technologies for the whole society," said Zhang Ying, associate dean at Guanghua School of Management of Peking University.
Shanghai-based podcast platform Himalaya is teaming up with online education platforms and also with institutions such as WWF and TED Talks to offer audio content.
Video and live-streaming site Bilibili was also among a number of remote education sites designated by Shanghai education authorities for elementary and middle school students.
Walmart said online sales nationwide during the Spring Festival break surged four times from the year-earlier period.
Shoppers can also order pick-up services from nearby stores on the same day within three hours of order between 9am and 3pm every day.
In Wuhan, Walmart stores now offers two deliveries to community neighborhoods every day since local residential complex were locked down to contain the epidemic.
In Shanghai, JD is using its logistics network to help patients pick up TCM herbal medicinal soups.
Patients at several local hospitals such as Shanghai TCM Hospital, Shanghai No. 1 People's Hospital can order through JD's delivery service.
Walmart shoppers can order same-day pick-up services from the company's online application.
Alipay has attracted 1,200 developers to work on smartphone applications-based light-weight software to allow remote services such as making purchasing appointment for protective material, reporting new disease cases and management of community residents.
Since the launch of an integrated service portal at the end of January, it has received more than 600 million visits. Major functions include online diagnosis, delivery, health situation declaration and donations.
More than 50 million users visit epidemic-relevant pages through Baidu's smartphone application every day and online diagnosis usage also surged to 850,000 per day.
