5 Businesses that are not Affected by Coronavirus & Lockdown
Coronavirus entered our lives unexpectedly and has been harming us ever since. The pandemic is slowly but steadily affecting the entire world. It’s not just harming our health but also our wealth. The global economy has seen so much downfall.
Many business sectors have seen a major loss, like Travel and Tourism, Oil and Gas, Airlines, investment banking, cinemas, professional sports, etc. Some big companies have even had to lay off several employees. But in an unexpected & dreadful time like this, not everything is lost.
Although the coronavirus pandemic has come in with a lot of bad news, there are some business sectors that are gaining from this situation. They’re booming now, more than ever.
Some of these business sectors which are thriving in lockdown and coronavirus are:
1. Agriculture Produce Business
Since the lockdown has been announced, people have been panicking and stocking constantly for the fear of not having enough to eat in a crisis like this. The agriculture sector is the most vulnerable of all, and sure the pandemic has affected it as well.
In India, a package of INR 1.7 trillion was announced by the Indian Finance minister along with other measures in order to stabilize the agricultural sector, and some states also gave permission for this sector to continue working.
Kishor Kumar Jha, founder of Ergos (A Bangalore based agricultural start-up) says “We started our registration process well before harvest, but over the last one week we’ve seen a surge in farmer sign-ups. We’ve done over 300 farmer registrations (for warehousing facility) in just seven days,”
When looking at other sectors that are linked with agriculture, like Retail grocery supermarkets (Metro Cash & Carry, Reliance, big bazaar) and big companies like HUL, ITC, Godrej, etc have also seen a boom. Their sales have gone higher in recent times.
2. Online Streaming Business
As a large amount of the population is staying home and working/studying from home, there has been an increase in the demand of the Media & entertainment sector.
Due to the lockdown, Tv shoots and cinema halls have had to stop producing content but this turned out to be beneficial for online streaming companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Voot, Zee5, Hotstar, Youtube, etc.
The consumption on these platforms has increased so much that they had to come up with new strategies & measures to keep their audience engaged.
According to a survey, Youtube has seen a 20.5 % surge in its subscribers while Netflix saw 16 million new sign-ups (BBC news). All other platforms also saw a growth in a dreadful time like this, since entertainment acts as a good stress-buster.
3. Healthcare Sectors
The healthcare sectors both Pharma and hospitals are at the epicenter of this pandemic. They play an important role right now, at a time of crisis like this.
Though the healthcare sector has been the most helpful in this pandemic with their donations and contributions, private sectors have also seen a boom in recent times.
MyUpchar, an online healthcare website saw 5 times jump in its online medicine delivery. Other medical sectors have seen a boom as well.
Other factors related to the healthcare sector also have benefited well, like this survey below.
4. E-learning and Meeting Platforms
Lockdown has forced all the sectors to rely on online platforms for their work and need to succeed. Since the widespread of coronavirus, the operation of schools and colleges were shut down long ago. This resulted in the teachers and students ending up relying on online learning and meeting platforms like Zoom, Byju’s, Vedantu, Unacademy, and so on.
These E-learning platforms have suddenly seen a spike in their growth. Almost all schools and colleges are using e-learning platforms. There’s no doubt that the subscription rates on these websites have increased by more than 60-70%.
It’s not just the education industry, but even the working sector has found its solution to lockdown in online meetings and discussion websites like zoom, google hangouts, etc. These have become necessary platforms now, and are booming now more than ever.
These platforms have made working from home and studying from home a little easier and have helped students and working professionals in going on with their routine life without a break.
5. Delivery and Logistics Services
People can’t go out, are not allowed to step out for unnecessary work, and are supposed to maintain social distancing, so when conditions like these are imposed on a person, it’s very obvious that they’ll look for the next best option to fulfill their needs.
In this case, it’s online shopping. Yes, online shopping has seen greater growth now, and therefore online delivery companies have seen a boom.
From food to medicines to every other essential item, most of the customers are buying these from online stores only.
Customer engagement has increased on online buying platforms such as Amazon. Flipkart, lenskart, etc. These companies have also come up with “No-contact, sanitized, and safe delivery” options that are attracting more customers and also increasing brand trust.
These five business sectors have only benefited from the coronavirus pandemic. The situation has turned out to be in their favor, and they’re seeing a growth in times when every business is fearing and dreading recession.
Every business has its time, now is the time for online platforms and offline essential services more than any other service, and hence these businesses are profiting in such critical times.
FAQs
Yes, retail stores that are allowed to remain open are not expected to be heavily impacted by the coronavirus and lockdown measures put in place by governments in order to slow the spread of the virus.
Yes, some online businesses may benefit from increased sales due to the enforced shutdown of many in-person retail stores. However, other online businesses may face reduced demand due to general economic uncertainties associated with the pandemic.
It depends. Technology businesses that provide services related to work from home and digital collaboration have seen strong demand during the pandemic, while those providing international travel information or hospitality services have experienced significant impacts.
Restaurants that offer delivery and take away services have been able to continue operation during the pandemic, however, in-person dining has been severely impacted due to government restrictions.
Some transportation businesses such as those providing freight services have seen increased demand during the pandemic, while those providing travel services have experienced significant disruptions.
Generally, businesses located in rural areas have not been as severely impacted as those located in urban settings. However, since the pandemic has resulted in a global economic downturn, businesses in rural areas are not immune from the implications of this downturn.
Educational businesses such as tutoring and educational technology have seen increased demand due to school closures, while those providing in-person services have had to temporarily suspend operations.
Generally, construction businesses have been allowed to remain open during the pandemic, although with certain restrictions in place to reduce physical contact and risk of infection. Thus, while construction businesses may have been disrupted in terms of workflow, they have not been heavily impacted by the coronavirus and lockdown measures.
Healthcare businesses have been heavily impacted by the coronavirus and lockdown, due to the increased demand for hospital care, medical supplies and equipment, and telemedicine services associated with the pandemic.
Some financial services businesses such as online banks and brokers have seen increased demand during the pandemic, while those providing in-person services have had to temporarily suspend operations.
