Five Industries That Have Grown During COVID-19 Pandemic

Coronavirus-related cases are going down in many countries around the world. In the US, the UK, and Australia, it is safe to go out, conduct business and interact with others as long as you’ve been vaccinated.

Some countries, like Brazil and India, are still struggling to contain the virus. Many other nations have active cases. Of course, not everyone in the world has tested positive for the pandemic. But it’s safe to say most people have been affected by it.

In the business world, most industries were forced to shut down early last year for safety reasons. However, a few sectors thrived amid COVID-19. Below are some of them.

• Gaming Companies

Amid the pandemic, few people can go out to the theaters, stadiums, concert halls, zoos or museums for entertainment. But guess what? Gaming companies can bring entertainment to you and that’s what these businesses have been doing since early last year.

Nearly every gaming genre has gained new players since the pandemic started. Parents have been finding their school-going children's educative games left, right, and centers. On the other hand, eSports fans have been competing with friends playing games like League of Legends, CS: GO, and Fortnite.

Casino fans have been even busier. Search intent for slots, table games, and betting websites, in general, has skyrocketed in the past year. A list of the best US online casinos can be found here. As a bonus, you’ll also learn how to pick the right gaming websites.

• SAAS Companies

Software as a Service (SAAS) describes most online companies that provide their services through software. SAAS is a fast-growing sector worth roughly $104.7 billion according to a report published on Hubspot.com.

Last year, SAAS was one of the biggest beneficiaries of lockdown. Most companies couldn’t use traditional marketing, advertising, cloud storage, and communication techniques. Instead, the better option was to rely on some of these SAAS products:

• MailChimp—email marketing
• Shopify---building web stores
• WordPress—building blogs and websites
• Zoom—video communication
• Square—digital payments
• G-Suite—Google products like Gmail and Google sheets

The Internet is jam-packed with SAAS products. And most businesses that provide these Internet-based products have been performing incredibly well during the pandemic. According to experts, the SAAS industry is projected to double in value in the next couple of years.

• Delivery Companies

Amid rising coronavirus deaths and hospitalization cases, most people got afraid to leave their homes. Fortunately, the delivery service industry stepped in to deliver food, drinks, essentials, electronics, clothes, and corporate tools.

According to Marketwatch.com, food delivery apps doubled in the US between March and December 2020. DoorDash, the popular delivery app, went as far as to file for an initial public offering following its sporadic growth.

  Uber, Postmates, Grub, and DoorDash—all deliver businesses—raked a combined income of $5.5 billion between April and September 2021. Comparatively, this was a 50% growth for these companies compared to the same period in 2019.

Interestingly, delivery services are still growing even now that lockdown restrictions have been eased. A study by Cowen & Co attributes this trend to a survey that showed 52% of Americans are planning to stick to the delivery app even after the pandemic is over.

• Virtual Fitness Apps

Fitness facilities were among the first group of industries to shut down when the pandemic hit the world. Then the government ordered all non-essential workers to stay at home, limiting all fitness options that involve leaving the house.

Fortunately, the introduction of lockdown didn’t mean the end of fitness. Quite the contrary, fitness apps have been cropping up every month. On the other hand, sales for gym equipment and yoga mats have ballooned to an all-time high.

In all fairness, most people have enough time to exercise under quarantine. They can watch YouTube workout classes or subscribe to paid fitness apps. According to the BBC, yoga has been the most popular workout class during this pandemic period.

• Cleaning Services

The demand for cleaning services grew by up to 95% in 2020. This came after an initial report by the CDC advised businesses and homeowners to clean and sanitize surfaces as much as they could. 

Most people took the recommendation seriously, from government employees to retail business owners. Coronavirus is easy to kill on surfaces according to Harvard’s Joe Allen. But as the CDC later admitted, the virus rarely spreads to humans through surface contact.

Air droplets are the main way through which COVID-19 spreads. Still to be clear, this hasn’t deterred people from hiring cleaning service companies in droves. Crucially, businesses aren’t just paying for regular cleaning. They are paying good money for deep, aggressive disinfection services—the kind of services offered by pest control companies.

• Self-care Beauty Products

The beauty industry has always ranked among the most popular industries in the world. During the pandemic, however, things have changed. Physical beauty salons and beauty retail shops have been struggling to stay in business.

But on the other hand, online beauty sales have increased by 84% since the pandemic began. Better yet, referrals for home care-related beauty products have mushroomed by a whopping 113%. 

Against that backdrop, it is clear the beauty industry is gravitating toward eCommerce. The humongous growth rates witnessed during the pandemic will inevitably go down. But more and more consumers are choosing a lifestyle based on shopping products online.

• Home and Garden

Before the pandemic, many people spent most of their money on essentials, bills, and outdoor trips. During the pandemic, people are investing more in their homes. Precisely, hardware stores around the US have witnessed tremendous demand for gardening tools in the past year.

Likewise, there’s been a seed-buying craze, more so seeds for herbs, beans and vegetables. Houseplant sales are also on a rise. Interestingly, parents with children are the biggest demographic for home gardeners in these touch times.

Many of them are turning to gardening for the fun of it. But there’s also a significant percentage of people who believe produce grown at home tastes better and is healthier. 

(Devdiscourse does not promote any kind of gambling activities and urges readers to play responsibly if they choose to do so. Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)