A few months ago, when China was fighting its battle with Coronavirus, everybody was minding their own business. With things getting out of hand and aggravating with every passing second, we are now experiencing one of the worst pandemics of human history. Even as you read this blog, the affected count of people continues to rise and what is scarier is that we do not have any cure for it. Businesses are shutting down and the economies are falling apart. That said, technology-based businesses have found their ways of survival while also contributing to society to help combat the COVID-19 battle.
Stay At Home Implies Stay Online
Public policy announcements in different parts of the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a drastic increase in internet usage. The populations have become dependent upon the internet for anything and everything. While students are attending online lectures, employees are working remotely through online software, some people are developing new or rather essential skills through the internet such as cooking, plumbing, hair trimming, etc. The Internet is not only about Netflix and chill but it is holding people’s lives together, especially in the current horrifying global situation. It is keeping the sanity of us individuals intact while the world heals.
But how is all this affecting the businesses? Businesses that look forward to seeing their customers every day! Businesses that serve their customers with complete passion! Businesses that keep the economy running! There is no plan of action to tackle this challenging situation that is predicted to prevail at least for the complete year of 2020.
The customers cannot and should not leave their homes but that does not change the fact that every individual cannot just stop living. Essential businesses need to find safe and secure ways of fulfilling customer needs. This is where we take the help of technology that allows businesses to go online where they can reach out to their customers through websites and mobile app solutions. With customers staying at home, businesses have to reach out to them where they spend most of their time; on the internet.
Also Read: How To Combat Business Crisis Caused By COVID-19
Online Businesses Do Stand A Chance
Brick and mortar businesses cannot operate seamlessly unless they are defined as essential businesses. Even then there is no guarantee of safety and humans will continue practicing social distancing for at least one year or until a vaccine is created by the healthcare professionals. This implies that online businesses can help facilitate individual lives through the provision of goods and services through the online web or mobile solutions.
Offline and traditional businesses must get a business consultation to launch their online business solution as soon as possible. Yes, now is the time! You cannot keep on postponing your plans about learning how technology will help your business grow and survive through critical times. What more proof can you ask for? Quite evidently, online businesses are currently going through a massive increase that some of them such as Amazon are even going out of stock. Of course, these businesses have also been hit by the pandemic but they are still operational with different challenges that they are constantly trying to overcome (with technology).
In this blog, we have covered business industries that are growing despite the critical global situation. Offline and traditional businesses can take a hint and plan to launch their online solution that promises growth irrespective of the market scenario.
Pickup & Delivery Business
Of course, you knew this one!
Let’s just call delivery solutions the life saviors. Delivery businesses are helping people meet their daily needs. The COVID-19 crisis has affected the economy which has given rise to new business opportunities, especially for pickup and delivery businesses. Humans need groceries, medicines, daily goods, and other services to survive, even when they are only staying at home. So, to get into the delivery business, you must choose a niche if you haven’t already.
Grocery Delivery
Humans Need To Eat To Be Alive!
The number of grocery delivery app downloads have increased by manifold in the past few months (since the outbreak of Coronavirus). Instacart downloads increased by 218%, Walmart downloads increased by 160%, and that of Shipt increased by 124%.
With the government announcing stay-at-home orders and complete lockdowns, people tried to stock the essential goods at home. Now, with absolutely no clue about what is going to happen next and the stocks finishing, people need online applications through which they can order essential goods to keep them going. Some of the food startups such as Zomato have also started delivering groceries after understanding the essential needs of the people. Having said that, contactless deliveries are necessary to ensure the safety of customers as well as the delivery personnel.
Food Delivery
Some Need Food To Survive!
There are a lot of people who are stuck in their homes all by themselves. Food delivery applications are satisfying their hunger by providing carefully prepared food at their doorsteps.
Restaurants cannot offer dine-in options in the emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic and the situation is not getting better anytime soon. Therefore, restaurants must launch their online food delivery business now to continue being operational in the coming times.
Medicine Delivery
There Are People With Other Medical Needs!
People cannot visit medical stores amidst such chaotic times where everybody is skeptical of visiting medical institutes until necessary. However, we cannot deny the fact that people also require medicines for other minor or major health concerns. Therefore, pharmacists must have robust delivery management in place to help people fight against Coronavirus as well as other medical issues. Online medicine delivery businesses can contribute to society while serving essential medical care to patients who cannot get out of their homes due to certain restrictions, currently COVID-19.
Online Education Applications
Continuing To Gain Knowledge Despite Tough Times!
Education institutes have been shut down because the students who hold the entire future cannot be put to the risk of the deadly virus just like that. However, we cannot also keep them from education. As a result, e-learning applications have become rather necessary for students to continue studies and become better and learned individuals. Statistics reveal 1 spike of 300% in education application downloads in March 2020.
Schools, colleges, and universities are offering complete online courses that include online lectures from all professors, online assignments and assessments, and other activities to help students gain knowledge like they would while attending regular classes. That said, coaching centers and tutors also have a great opportunity to offer online coaching through web and mobile platforms. Besides, the time is just right as the new sessions are just starting at schools and students are all set to prepare for various entrance exams. Come on, take a hint now!
E-commerce Applications
Shopping Is An Effective Therapy!
People will be advised to practice social distancing for the coming months or maybe years (a few reports suggest so). Brick and mortar shops cannot operate in such conditions using conventional methods. This implies that online stores are the need of the hour and not just another technology trend for the tech-savvies of Millenials. While some of the retail businesses already have online stores, there are quite a lot of the businesses that are still solely dependent upon customers’ in-store visits for business.
Humans around the world are trying to keep their sanity by behaving normally and normal behavior includes shopping too. Imagine you are cooking in your kitchen and suddenly the food mixer stops functioning. Now you cannot go out to buy it but you can order it online and your life will just be normal again. There is another girl who has her birthday coming and she orders a birthday dress for herself to celebrate her day with some positivity. Only when you look at this broader picture, you will realize the impact of online stores in people’s lives at this time.
Certainly, there will be unavoidable delays and other challenges that businesses will face to accomplish safe and successful contactless deliveries. Having said that, the customers understand all the complications and are ready to wait more to receive their orders because we are all in this together.
Fitness & Wellness Solutions
Necessary for physical and mental well being!
Gyms and wellness centers have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and people are trying their best to maintain their fitness routines from home. With an increase in user registrations for digital workout programs in the past month, fitness businesses stand a chance of expanding amidst the global crisis. Besides workout applications, meditation and mental wellness solutions are also gaining a lot of attention because let’s just face it, we need to keep our calm the most right now.
On-Demand Healthcare Solutions
Health Cannot Be Compromised In Any Situation!
Remote healthcare needs to be more normalized as we progress. Currently, we can fight against the COVID-19 pandemic with efficient on-demand healthcare solutions. Patients need to self-isolate themselves while their doctors and nurses take care of them without putting themselves at the risk of getting infected. This can be achieved with web and mobile healthcare applications and solutions. Patient consultation through video conferencing, providing emergency medical care, and booking appointments while sitting at home can significantly improve the quality of lives of humans as well as help medical care reach more effectiveness.
Video Streaming Solutions
Netflix & Chill Is Fine But Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Hulu, etc. Aren’t Bad Either!
Online streaming applications are generating more revenue than ever. People are constantly searching for new web series or movies to watch these days. There is no difference between weekdays and weekends which is why the online traffic is high at all times. Binge-watching around the world is the new normal because people have too much time to kill. More importantly, some people are living alone and they need something using which they distract themselves and relax at the same time.
Youtube plays an integral role in people’s lives. I have learned so many skills using the on-demand video application and right now people are searching anything and everything on the video search engine. Some are looking for cooking recipes, some are exploring videos to learn new musical instruments, some are trying to hone their skills, and some are just trying to have as much fun. This implies that online streaming applications have high chances of growth in the coming years.
Economy Is Changing, And It’s Time To Evolve
The bottomline is that people have too much right now and they are experimenting with all sorts of options to find out the one that best suits their needs. Launching your own business at this time would make perfect sense because you will be simultaneously contributing to the society as well as the economy. Online solutions and marketplaces are not a new concept but we need to shift to the online business models to keep surviving through this pandemic and establish an economy with a futuristic approach.
We, at The Synergy Works, are helping businesses make this shift using the best technologies within minimum timelines. Our experts can offer detailed business consultation to analyze your business idea and how it will perform in today’s business market and the following years. Get in touch with us now to make that move before it’s too late.
About Author
Shikha Taman
Shikha Taman is the founder & CEO of SynergyWorks Solutions. With over 12 years of experience in the industry. She has extensive knowledge of software engineering, project management, client management, and business strategy. She strives to ensure all the products developed are always up-to-date with materializing technologies to remain competitive in today’s marketplace.