Industries and Companies Who Benefit from Global Lockdown

Local bars and favorite late-night eating spots are closing. Basketball matches are a distant memory. The doors of movie theaters are closed indefinitely. The COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine issued to stop the spread of the virus are killing most businesses. A rare street will look the same after the lockdown is over. However, some industries are not only surviving but actually thriving in quarantine, and here’s their (incomplete) list.

#1 Online Streaming Services

Who hasn’t seen Tiger King yet? Go watch. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and other platforms that offer on-demand video content are everyone’s main entertainment providers right now.

With no cinema, bars, and concerts available, “quarantine and chill” is the new “Netflix and chill.” As a result, streaming platforms are thriving like never before. Netflix has jumped 7% in stocks and hit the all-time high because countries in lockdown are increasingly buying subscriptions. For example, the demand has become 50% higher in Italy and Spain. The company even had to decrease video quality to keep up with all the new watchers across the globe.

#2 Grocery Deliveries

Restaurants struggle to survive by offering free-of-charge or reduced-price take out, but they cannot compare to the popularity of grocery deliveries. As governments are warning citizens about the importance of social distancing, people are trying to limit their outside time.

Companies that offer to deliver groceries to your door are obviously a good way to avoid crowds of anxious shoppers trying to squeeze a year-worth supply of toilet paper and cereal in their carts. For example, Alibaba’s grocery delivery app ‘Fresh Hema’ reached 100,000 downloads on February 8, which is three times more than their pre-quarantine clientele of about 29,000 a day. Other similar services show the same positive growth, especially when they offer not only groceries but also prepared meals.

#3 Online Gambling and Gaming

With sporting events off-limits, the only way to feel the excitement of betting is with the help of online casinos and video games. To satisfy fans’ desire to participate in sports, the NBA 2K hosts tournaments that allow one to join online and try to get a $25,000 prize pool. ‘Stream,’ the largest PC gaming platform, hit the all-time record: 20.7 million people were playing at the same time.

Even more impressively, video game usage in the United States has gone up 75% compared to the pre-quarantine numbers. The same goes for online gambling. Some countries, such as Portugal, are introducing restrictions on online gambling to prevent lockdown from fueling people’s addiction. Luckily, American casino websites are not banned.

#4 Video Conferencing Services

Millions of people who are currently working from home depend on video conferencing more than ever before. It’s also no longer weird to celebrate one’s birthday with a dozen friends over a video call. Well, anything’s better than solo drinking, that’s for sure. Zoom, the leader of the industry, has become a cultural phenomenon in recent months.

Along with TikTok, another platform that surged in quarantine, Zoom is now one of the main meme subjects. What matters for the business, though, is that the average number of weekly downloads of the Zoom app is currently more than ten times higher than it was at the end of 2019. With everyone stuck at home, Zoom is worth more than Uber in stock. No one would believe this half a year ago.

#5 Online Education

Last but not least, quarantine has apparently evoked a thirst for knowledge in everyone and their dog. Online political science lectures, foreign language classes, and crafts workshops are more popular than ever. Online education companies are thriving. TAL Education Group, which offers tutoring programs, grew $1.7 billion in net worth. Basically, eLearning has become the new gym membership: everyone is buying it to have something to impress the colleagues, but much fewer people actually learn.