Industries that are Thriving During COVID-19

It is clear how much our lives have been affected these past few months because of the pandemic and ensuing quarantine restrictions. As we enter this new way of life, with countries opening up for the first time in months and the economy beginning to improve, there are a number of industries that have had success these past few months while the world was burning. Be it from price gouging or simply providing a necessary product to the consumer, some industries have far outpaced others and have remained profitable through COVID-19. As there are many sectors in each industry, we will concentrate on certain sectors that have thrived these past few months.

The Gaming Industry

As we have all been stuck at home, potentially unemployed or with reduced hours, it makes sense that gaming companies would have seen an improvement in their consoles and games sold. Now that we have more free time around the house, games like Animal Crossing or Doom Eternal became easy distractions and places to hideaway and forget about the pandemic. With this, the gaming industry hit a new high as their consumers were forced to stay indoors and people began turning to the online capacity of many of these games to fight isolation. With stay-home orders, the gaming industry has boomed these past few months and have built a stronger consumer base for their future growth.

Mask for you, Mask for me, Mask for Everyone!

It is really no surprise that during a pandemic these industries that manufacture and produce personal safety equipment and products like disposable latex gloves and masks are doing very well during COVID-19. Companies like 3M for example, have been producing more supplies like gowns and their N95 respirator masks for our frontline workers and healthcare professionals so that they stay safe and do not transmit the virus to others. Although they are thriving because they are benefiting from the virus, they have been instrumental in protecting our frontline workers and have even donated thousands of masks to underprivileged communities to help in reducing transmission rates. There are even distilleries that have begun producing hand sanitizer rather than alcohol to increase the supply for those who have not been able to properly protect themselves. This pandemic has caused many companies to pivot from their original business plan to accommodate this new world and to help respond to this new demand.

Keeping Everything Clean with Mr. Clean 

With everyone being worried about catching the virus or bringing it into your home on a grocery bag, there has been an increase demand for cleaning products and supplies. In line with most health agencies around the world, we have been conditioned to disinfect and clean every single item that enters our household and sanitizing our hands every time we feel as if we are getting sick. Companies like Clorox have increased their supply of goods to meet the increased demand and have been rewarded very well as they have reached record sales these past few months. And as we know, until there is a cure, we can expect cleaning products to be in high-demand, and for these companies to continue to thrive for the near future.

Check out my “Home Gym”

With gyms and fitness centers closing up when the pandemic hit, people have been forced to rely on in-home fitness products and workouts. For those that believe that fitness is a priority, people have built home gyms or have purchased fitness apps to maintain their exercises and work out regiments and this has led to a lucrative new business model for companies like Peloton. You might remember Peloton for their infamous ad where they show a woman working out for the benefit of her husband rather than herself. Anyway, companies like Peloton have done very well these past few months as people have simply purchased the gym equipment that they would normally use and have kept up with their work out routines. The companies that can provide these workout products have been doing very well since quarantine started.

My Green Thumb and I

With people being stuck at home for long periods of time, many have finally gone ahead and cleaned up their backyard so that they can begin gardening. With many people wanting to plant their gardens all at once, many seed companies have rushed to keep us with this increasing demand of green-thumbed gardeners. These companies have had a large increase in demand and have profited very well from this pandemic.

Everybody I Know is Getting a Dog

As people are spending more time with their families and are realizing that they might be at home for the next few months, animals at home are getting much more time and affection from their owners than usual as they are simply home more. For those without animals, we can see that there has been a large increase in pet adoptions and fostering as families are looking to add an extra member to their family as they have more time to train and spend with their new friend. The big winner here are the animals who are lucky enough to find a forever home.

Meet Me on Zoom

Rather than meeting up at work in a conference room or in a classroom, COVID-19 has transformed the way we meet and connect. By connecting teams, families or even friends, these video platforms, like Zoom, have changed the way we connect with others by allowing us to seamlessly call, message and email without fear of missing anything. By allowing us to maintain our productivity level even outside of the office, we have become dependent on these companies for even basic needs and this has resulted in a large profit that will help them develop other ways to keep us hooked even when we go back to our offices in the future. But I also think this pandemic will make many companies revisit working from home and this might become the new norm allowing these companies to continue to grow, only time will tell what the future has in store for all of us.

Learning Online

Like Zoom, there were many educational platforms like Khan Academy that benefitted greatly from students being forced to move online. Like regular in-person tutors, large tutoring companies were expect to pivot quickly online to maintain their revenue. By always being available, those who are unemployed or students who simply need some extra help, are able to use these platforms to develop skills without ever needing to leave the comfort of their homes. Now that is a captive audience!

UberEating my Troubles Away

With the stress of leaving the house to go grocery shopping, it has become ever more convenient to just order in with UberEats. As people have been forced to rely on food delivery platforms, as they are worried about coming into contact with other people, these platforms have seen a drastic increase in demand and sales that have allowed them to hire more drivers and to help reduce unemployment.

Netflix is My Everything

Netflix has benefited by far the most from the pandemic because people are stuck indoors with nothing to do and there is always some brand new, maybe trashy, Netflix original to watch. As the beginning of the pandemic showed with The Tiger King, being stuck indoors and glued to our screens as a distraction for real life works well with Netflix’s plan to increase their viewership. Ever since COVID-19 officially started in March in North America, Netflix has seen their subscription numbers increase drastically as people have nothing better to do than binge-watch shows that they have been meaning to watch for years. As we can see, Netflix has monetized the pandemic very well and the fact that they have a lot of original and classic content has kept them ahead of other subscription-based companies like Hulu. 

Comments

Let me know down in the comments if you agree with this list! Do you think there are other notable industries that have benefitted from COVID-19? Did I miss one? Let me know!