The Pandemic Effect On Economy: Top 10 Industries That Will Boom Amid and After COVID-19

The COVID-19 Effect On Global Economy

The pandemics are known to make a direct impact on every dimension of our lives – may it be economic or psychological but CoronaVirus is making these impacts even adverse.

1. The Psychological Effect

According to Statista, right now approximately 2.6 billion individuals – which is 33% of the world’s population – is living under a lockdown or quarantine. This is certainly the biggest psychological experiment ever conducted.

Its effect on the economy can be seen in stock markets all over the world – investors are not sure about the future as the information on the spread of the infection and its effect on worldwide productivity is at best incorrect and at worse incomplete.

And, if we talk about consumers, who are under isolation are very likely to develop symptoms of mental stress and disorder, including insomnia, low mood, stress, anger, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and post-traumatic stress symptoms as per a study by Lancet. Irritability and low-mood particularly stand out as being very normal, the study notes.

All in all, the worldwide population is confronting psychological impacts, with increased isolation and low-morale as human contact and freedom to travel are getting vigorously curtailed.

In such a scenario, it is truly hard to run a business and if you lack out-of-the-box ideas it will be even harder once the pandemic ends. So, entrepreneurs have to pull up their socks to bring their businesses back on the track. The only profitable strategy is to come up with unique ideas and back them with robust technology.

2. The Economical Effect

Its economic impact has also been significant. While it is absolutely impossible to tell precisely what the economic harm from the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic will be, there is widespread agreement among financial experts that it will have extremely negative effects on the worldwide economy.

Temporarily, the stock of various basic products has been disturbed and the demand for services and products has dropped off. And if this continues, COVID-19 could affect worldwide GDP negatively. Have a look at this forecasted data from Statista:

The greater part of these monetary impacts are coming from people taking mandatory actions to avoid catching the virus. There are three significant sources behind the same and these are:

• Governments imposing bans on certain types of activities – various grocery and retail stores are closed in a number of nations.
• Business Closures — because of government bans or own choices of businesses resulting in low wages for laborers.
• Reduced trips to the market, going out, travel and other social activities.

These small changes are affecting all sectors of the economy – may it be manufacturing, trade and transportation, health sector, education or others. These thus convert into reduced income for both through the supply side (less production drives up costs for consumers) and the demand side (reduced demand from buyers harms entrepreneurs and their employees).

These small economic impacts can turn into reductions in long-term growth. So, as a business owner if you are planning to enter an industry that is hit hardest by the virus – we would recommend you not do the same. There is no benefit of getting a travel app developed at this point of time.

On the other hand, there are certain industries that are booming amid COVID-19 and will continue to boom even after the pandemic ends. If you have any plans for entering these industries – there is no better time than NOW. Let’s have a look at these booming industries now.

10 Industries That Will Boom Amid and Even After COVID-19

The novel coronavirus pandemic is changing the business strategy for each industry on earth. The industries that are hit hardest include travel and tourism, retail, real estate, and manufacturing.

However, not every industry is experiencing a downturn because of the virus – it is hurting some but benefiting others. Let’s have a look at those that are booming as of now:

1. Digital Streaming

With the stock market crashing, investors are searching for safer havens and approaches to bear losses with eyes on industries with the potential to rise from the crisis in better shape than others. And, digital streaming is one such industry.

While the traditional media and entertainment industry – being an industry highly dependent on in-person staffing and out-of-the-home areas, is suffering severely because of the virus outbreak. The demand for video-streaming apps like Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime and Hulu is increasing with every passing day. Have a look at these stats:

People around the world are spending most of their time binge-watching On-demand Streaming Apps like Netflix to enjoy their quarantine time. They are also growing their choice horizon and watching content types; improving the app’s retention and acquisition rates.

So, if you are planning to invest in establishing a business around online streaming – there is no perfect time than now. The demand is high and you can take its benefits in a very good way.

2. Online Alcohol Delivery

A number of U.S. states have now closed restaurants and bars trying to control the spread of the coronavirus. But, regardless of the new restrictions across 28 states, Americans are still purchasing alcohol, however a little differently. According to researchers, people are drinking a crazy amount of alcohol amid the lockdown in their homes to bear the boredom.

They are using on-demand alcohol delivery apps like Drizly and Minibar Delivery to get their thirst sorted. According to Nielsen data, off-premise sales of wine, beer and spirits increased by 28, 14 and 26 percent, respectively, in the week ending March 14 compared to the same period a year ago.

Therefore, alcohol-delivery services have seen a huge spike in sales, and in America cities like Chicago, Seattle and Boston are seeing a 300 to 500% jump in sales compared with January this year. Alcohol sales are up in Canada, as well, alongside the sales of food supplies, meds, and different products because of the government relaxing rules on liquor delivery.

In case you are wondering whether it is a right time to start an alcohol delivery business or not – you can check out our comprehensive blog on 3 Reasons Why It Is the Right Time to Launch an Alcohol Delivery App

3. TeleHealth and TeleMedicine

COVID-19 has thrown the medical industry into a frenzy. Hospitals are battling as the infection spreads quicker than companies can produce ventilators, masks, and tests.

In such a situation, a number of patients are afraid of going to the hospitals for routine checkups thinking that they might catch the virus from others. And, healthcare providers are a bit unsure whether they should continue their operations or not given the severity of the disease.

And, if some of them are doing so, they are also worried about their own health. As per a survey by HHCN, out of roughly 150 individuals, just four said they are not concerned about the COVID-19’s possible impact.

Being a great solution to these problems mHealth solutions like telehealth, telemedicine and on-demand doctor apps are at present booming. A proof of which is that Amwell, a telehealth provider, noticed a 257% climb in its use over the USA area and 700% in Washington State during this pandemic period. 

Taking these stats and news into consideration – we can say that Telemedicine is one such sector that is going nowhere else even after the pandemic ends. Once the users start using these services – they develop a habit around it and never stop doing the same. So, it is a good idea to invest in this service in 2020 or in the years to come. 

Also Read: How COVID-19 is Giving a Boost to TeleHealth Apps?

4. Online Gaming

According to AppAnnie, mobile game downloads in the month of March grew 30 percent from Q4 2019 as people in quarantine look for more approaches to stay entertained at home.

With businesses and governments over the world requesting consumers to practice social distancing, people are spending more time than ever in their homes. These noteworthy changes to people’s everyday lives have resulted in increased downloads of the gaming apps on apps stores.

In Q1 2020, users spent over $23.4 Billion through the application stores, the biggest quarter ever in terms of consumer spending. There were also over 31 Billion new application downloads, a 15 percent increase from Q4 2019, with games accounting for 40 percent of this.

The stats says it all how the mobile gaming industry is booming amid the CoronaVirus Outbreak and what are going to be the results of investing in this sector.

5. E-Commerce

According to CCinsight, In North America, the number of orders placed online for web-only online retailers were up 52 percent year over year in the US and Canada for the fourteen days of March 22 through April 4. With billions of people under stay-at-home directives during the pandemic, online businesses are blasting across the planet. 

Not just in the USA, in Canada as well, online sales increased 99 percent from March 11 through March 29, compared with the preceding 19-day period (Feb. 20-March 10).

The report separates COVID-19’s effect on eCommerce by sector. For the 19 days, electronics, appliances and do-it-yourself sections saw the most noteworthy increase in online sales, at 161 percent, followed by the food category at 160%. Online furnishings and home decor sales increased 106% for the period, and sporting goods sales bounced 105%. 

The data shows that eCommerce is not going anywhere with the pandemic affecting offline sales and the entire world. 

6. TeleWorking

With the world on lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, people are using technology to work from home and stay in contact with their friends and family. 

As a result, global downloads of video chat apps like Skype, Zoom, and Houseparty have surged by over 100 percent amid the pandemic.

Along with being used for meetings, people in the health and fitness industry are also utilizing these applications to stream live videos of workout or yoga classes. As per ABCNews, Amy Smith, a yoga instructor in West Deptford, NJ, said she is doing live, online yoga classes seven days per week in the midst of the outbreak. 

Not just fitness geeks, teachers, and various students are turning to these platforms to continue running their operations. Nowadays school assignments are being handled out on Google Classroom and meetings are occurring on Zoom, Houseparty, and Skype. 

Likewise, it has been noticed that the video-conferencing app Zoom has had a 78% increase in revenue over the previous year and its share rate has increased by 67.27% in the initial three months of this current year. 

7. Online Grocery Delivery

While a number of verticals of on-demand industry like taxi and food-delivery are hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic – on-demand grocery delivery is booming like never before.

As indicated by data from application store intelligence firm Apptopia, grocery delivery applications have started seeing a rise in numbers of daily downloads. In the period of March, online grocery applications including Walmart Grocery, Instacart and Shipt, hit one more new record for every day downloads for their particular applications, the firm says.

If we compare the average day by day downloads in February to March, Instacart, Walmart Grocery and Shipt have seen the increase by 218%, 160% and 124%, respectively. 

Normally, these applications (with the exception of Shipt) see 10k-20k downloads every day. But, on March 15, Instacart was downloaded by more than 38k users and Walmart Grocery got about 54k downloads. 

This data shows that grocery delivery apps are in demand more than ever during this health crisis and will continue to be in-demand in the years to come. So, investing in this industry is surely not a bad idea.

8. Meditation and Mindfulness

Social distancing is no doubt isolating. And, its extended periods can negatively affect one’s mental wellness. 

With the news changing every day on the pandemic, the vulnerability about to what extent the pandemic will last is increasing. As a result, people are unsure about its economic impacts and are developing tension which in turn is leading them to meditation and mindfulness apps to clear their minds.

Thus, some popular applications in this industry like headspace and Calm are taking its benefits – in terms of increased downloads, popularity and even revenues.

Headspace, a meditation app, has seen users finishing calming meditations 13 times more frequently than in the earlier month, and meditations focused toward managing tension have also climbed. 

The app has reacted to the situation by making a free content hub with guided meditations and emotional well-being practices for all its subscribers. This action will help a lot to a great number of users and will also help the app in boosting its user base to earn benefits in the long run.

While these apps haven’t seen much lift in their downloads like other applications, for instance, Zoom – there have been significant changes. According to App Annie, a program that tracks application downloads, Breethe has bounced up 31 spots in the health and fitness rankings over the last week to 40th, while BetterMe, another application of the same category, jumped 70 spots up to 26th. 

9. Health and Fitness

Along with meditation apps, the online health and fitness industry is also experiencing heavy demand. A surge in downloads for at-home fitness apps like Nike Training Club and Asana Rebel are a sign that this industry is booming and with no signs of slowing down.

Health and Fitness applications set global records for the most significant level of both weekly downloads and consumer spend at 59 million & $36 million, respectively during the seven day stretch of March 22, 2020 — a growth of 40 percent and 10 percent from the weekly average of January and February 2020. 

In the midst of COVID-19 lockdowns, user demand for fitness instruction, inspiration, accountability and accessibility — both for mental and physical wellbeing — thus, these applications are reaching new heights. 

Also, these apps are leaving no stone unturned in capturing as much exposure as they can amidst this growing demand. This is an indication that these apps are serving a real need and providing strong value to consumers seeking ways to stay healthy and active while stuck indoors. If you also plan to provide value to your users – consider developing a health and fitness app today.

10. Cashless Payments

In the lockdown scenario, digital payment solutions are letting users make payments utilizing the power of QR checking, UPI, etc rather than cash. Also, best of all is that one can send payments across countries through these mobility solutions.

Hence, amid the spread of COVID-19, people are reconsidering the cash they handle every day. And, as contactless and online payment techniques need less physical interaction and are more secure – people are heading towards them for making payments.

Concluding Notes: Mobile Is the Road to Recovery

With this, we have taken an overview of industries that are booming amid the COVID-19 outbreak and will continue to do so. However, at present, we are not in a state of making any statement on how long the world will take to contain the spread of this virus.

But, one thing is sure – this pandemic will bring a number of changes in how we live our daily lives, the way businesses operate and investors invest. With a number of businesses facing challenges in running their operations – winners are those who are using mobile technology. 

So, if your business is not yet on mobile – take it there and don’t lack behind.