4 Industries That We Actually Expect To Do Well Out Of Coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic has had a profound impact on industries across the globe in a manner never before seen.
While past recessions and market crashes have led to mass unemployment and business closures, the removal of labor sources through lockdown measures has made it impossible for businesses to bounce back, condemning them to simply waiting in a precarious position for the virus to pass.
However, there are some industries that have been able to make the best of an incredibly bad situation, either through inventive strategies or their products and services naturally lending themselves to lockdown life. Here are four that we expect to thrive in the age of coronavirus.
Online Gambling and Gaming
The online gaming and gambling industries saw some of the largest growth in the last decade, with many players opting to challenge themselves against real people across the world from the comfort of their homes
In a time where all social events are canceled and people are confirmed to their homes, there was almost no industry better prepared.
The accessibility of online gaming and gambling makes them a natural fit in this environment. A large portion of society has either a games console or access to the internet, and can quickly jump into an online lobby and be connected to people virtually almost instantly.
Lockdown procedures have led to an increase in video and voice chat services such as Zoom, as people look to fill the social gap in their lives. These industries have been taking advantage of and promoting these practices for years. With many casual players now finding themselves with much more time indoors on their hands, expect to see player numbers skyrocket.
Likewise, the online gambling industry is helping to fill a void during lockdown. With all sporting events off for the foreseeable future and casinos closed until further notice, you may think the gambling industry is on its knees. In fact, we expect quite the opposite to happen, as casino-frequenters and casual gamblers turn to online casinos for the thrills and challenges of gambling, such as the kind of games reviewed on OnlineCasinos.co.uk. Both these industries were well prepared for an extended stay indoors, but have adapted and made slight tweaks to maximize relevance.
Video Streaming
Much in the same fashion as the online gaming industry, video streaming networks were built for a worldwide pandemic that traps us all indoors.
Expect to see streaming numbers of popular platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime reach record highs as more and more people spend their evenings binge-watching the latest releases and old classics being added to the platform daily.
The film industry is using the pandemic as an opportunity to release their major films onto these platforms as theatres close, potentially drawing more eyeballs to them. Rather than downgrading, the industry has actually seen expansion, as Disney roll out their Disney Plus streaming platform in the UK.
If this industry has faced any issues caused by coronavirus, it’s excessive use. Some countries have had their quality limited on platforms such as Netflix, as the providers attempt to not overload internet usage. When this is all over could oversaturation of streaming content hurt viewing figures for these platforms for the remainder of the year? If that is to be a problem, the astronomical numbers of this period will massively outweigh it.
Fitness
While gyms were some of the first places to see a major downturn in business as the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic began to take sink in, this does not mean the fitness industry is entirely in panic.
Being locked in their homes without gyms to work out in, commutes to give them some daily exercise and social groups to make exercise more accessible, people have become more acutely aware of their health than ever before.
The idea of staying healthy has been drilled into us, leading many people to take up running, yoga and strength exercises, which require no social interaction and can be done from the home.
The industry has capitalized on this demand with video classes and streamed online yoga sessions. The idea of receiving training and doing exercises in our homes has quickly become normalized, with local gyms moving sessions online and celebrity athletes sharing tips from their homes.
Expect to see increased numbers of online subscriptions for fitness classes as this goes on, possibly leading to more people than ever joining gyms and classes in an attempt to shake post-lockdown weight and regain their fitness.
eCommerce
While physical retail faces a dark future, eCommerce is thriving.
No-essential shops have been closed for weeks and people are starting to fear grocery shopping out of concern of infection. This has lead to an eCommerce boom, with people both buying essentials and filling their retail habits with online shopping.
Whereas many businesses have stopped operation, most eCommerce stores are, for better or worse, still operating. As an act of solidarity with small retail and live events that can no longer operate, people have begun shopping online as a means of supporting them.
Expect this pandemic to speed up the death of the high street and brick and mortar stores. When this is all over the eCommerce stores will have built up strong new customer bases they can leverage to improve their yearly sales.
As you can see from this list, there are some businesses that will see this pandemic through successfully. While far from a good thing to have happened to them, it has been an opportunity to get new footholds in the market and expand their customer bases.
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