Despite lockdowns, curfews and travel restrictions, a few companies have been highly profitable over the last couple of years. From gaming and takeout to cleaning and disinfecting, these market leaders have seen tremendous growth recently; despite the numerous challenges that we’ve all had to face. Below you’ll find nine examples of relevant industries that have managed to achieve significant growth over the last two years.
Delivery services
Amazon has experienced terrific growth since the start of the pandemic. Despite costly projected investments of around $4 billion in virus mitigation, such as testing protocols and the installation of thermal cameras, the online shopping giant is expecting record profits to continue post-lockdown. Amazon’s executive chairman, Jeff Bezos, has a net worth of over $200 billion, making him the second-richest man on the planet behind Tesla’s Elon Musk.
Food, groceries, and retail items are the three most common types of deliveries. Food delivery has also experienced astronomical growth. Apps such as DoorDash, UberEats and Grubhub have doubled in demand, and restaurants have had no choice but to make use of these services.
Disinfection and cleaning services
Due to the nature of the pandemic, health and sanitation have been given chief priority in many industries. This change has led to a sharp uptick in the need for professional cleaning services. Whether it’s a restaurant, retail store, office block or medical facility, cleaning services ensure that the environment is as safe as possible for human activity.
Many private cleaning companies have provided much-needed relief for strained health services. Masks and medical supplies are still in high demand, and a few companies have gone as far as repurposing their manufacturing facilities to pivot production output to medical supplies.
Game companies
Thanks to restricted options for entertainment outside the household, board games and video games are now the biggest forms of recreation in the world. Educational video games in particular are in high demand, mainly due to younger members of the family not being able to attend school for prolonged periods of time.
Some game companies have used the growth of mobile gaming to great effect. Based on revenue alone, Tencent is the world’s largest game company. Compared to Sony and Apple (Tencent’s closest competitors), the Chinese conglomerate has nearly doubled its profits for 2021 thanks to mobile games.
Grocery stores
Basic necessities such as food and drink are always increasing in demand. Short of a decline in population growth, the demand for these goods will not slow down anytime soon. The combination of supply shortages and panic buying has brought about increased tariffs and a higher cost of living.
Lockdowns have made restaurants a no-go, and food delivery is a bit impractical as a regular source of food. Because of the aforementioned reasons, groceries are more in-demand than they ever were before. Thanks to this increased demand for frozen food and sanitary items, companies like Walmart managed to beat market expectations by turning significant profits towards the end of 2021.
Home improvement
Being stuck at home has spurred an evolution in home improvement culture. From yard care and gardening to full-on renovations, the biggest driver for this phenomenon has been self-sustainability. Record numbers of people are buying livestock, plumbing has become a DIY phenomenon, and gardening supplies have almost doubled in demand.
Hudson Valley Seed Co, a gardening supply company based in New York, reported that web-based demand for their products grew by approximately 500% in 2021. Allwood Recyclers, a landscaping company from Oregon, has experienced constant demand for its services, to the point where round-the-clock service is barely enough to keep up with daily demand.
Remote health services
Hospitals, old age homes and clinics were some of the hardest hit during the pandemic. At its peak, the coronavirus put a serious strain on all health institutions. Even before any lockdowns began, remote health services such as home health providers were growing in popularity. Now, thanks to social distancing and self-isolation, these remote services have seen accelerated growth.
Health and therapy apps such as Talkspace and Home Health Notify have made it much easier to manage health and wellness in isolation. Contactless payment solutions mean that doctors and patients never have to be in the same room. With remote work and remote learning becoming so prevalent, it makes sense that health services would follow suit.
Shipping and freight transport
Ports in the US have been operating at maximum capacity, but there simply aren’t enough goods to satisfy any given market. That hasn’t stopped freight companies from taking full advantage of high demand. International shipping giant, Maersk, earned record-breaking profits for the third quarter of 2021.
Maersk handles shipping containers and freight transport for over 200 major companies, including Amazon, Disney and Microsoft. The freight company has had its own fair share of challenges in 2021, such as the worldwide shortage of shipping containers when the Suez Canal was blocked off in March 2021.
Tutoring services
Switching from classroom learning to virtual education has been a difficult transition for many families. Teachers have had to adapt to new methods of teaching such as remote learning. This process can’t happen overnight, which is why private tutors and online courses have filled the gap during this transition phase.
Delayed curriculums have been pulled back from the brink thanks to tutoring services. Many studies have proven the efficacy of tutors. For example, Saga Tutoring is a math tuition service first launched in Chicago. The program yielded positive results, adding as much as two years worth of math knowledge to high school freshman and sophomore education levels. The program was so successful it’s now being considered for a nationwide rollout.
