The COVID-19 pandemic saw the closure of a number of stores and businesses. People were instructed to stay at home in order to save lives and to keep their friends and family safe.
Given that the coronavirus crisis was a time of strife and hardship, it’s not surprising that so many business owners suffered due to the loss of staff and clients. However, there were some technology industries that managed to make money and actually gain more customers.
Here are three of those industries that you need to know about.
1. The gaming industry
One of the biggest technology industries that has seen an increase in sales since the pandemic has been the gaming industry. During 2019-2021, the gaming market actually expanded by 26%! It’s understandable why this happened. After all, people were bored, lonely and in need of entertainment. Therefore, they moved to gaming in order to cope with the stresses and strains of the pandemic.
Some excellent titles were released during the pandemic that encouraged cooperation and communication with friends and family through their devices. Take a look at Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It came out in March 2020 and ended up selling 13.4 million copies within the first six weeks. This type of game encouraged players to meet with their families and friends in a virtual environment. Ultimately, this helped to counteract the lockdown that prevented people from seeing each other. So, you can see why it was so popular!
A lot of people found that gaming supported their mental health, especially during the lockdown period, including 16% of European gamers. Multiplayer genres were especially popular as they allowed people to connect with each other, along with friends and families. This included Jackbox games and even older titles that could be used on mobile phones, such as Cluedo.
Although there has been a bit of decline in the gaming industry, due to the increase of game prices and the lowered interest of the general public, 2023 has seen an increase due to the future arrival of new consoles and games. So, it may be a good time to learn coding or to consider making a game of your own. Just don’t forget that you can get help from specialists to assist with your advertisements and traffic. After all, SuperScale are also a MMP (Mobile Measurement Partner) and they would be happy to share their knowledge with you.
2. Remote working platforms & communication technology
Throughout the pandemic, the amount of digital communication technology used to speak with our family, friends and work colleagues has been incredible. Many workers would not have been able to continue with their remote work without them.
Back in 2020, Zoom, a communication platform, had a 40% rise of users during the year when people downloaded it. This was for a variety of reasons, but one of the biggest ones was in relation to remote work. The pandemic saw businesses instructing their workers to continue their duties remotely. To keep in contact with them, a lot of Zoom meetings were scheduled. It allowed people to screen share and see their colleagues face-to-face.
This was not the only type of technology that was utilised. Work-related platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack made it easier for colleagues to quickly contact each other. However, what was incredibly popular were VPNs. VPNs are “Virtual Private Networks” that allow workers to access their work files and company server. The amount of people who used a VPN actually increased to about 65%. Essentially, this helped people to maintain the daily duties of their jobs without even needing to go near the office. Ultimately, this was useful in continuing social distancing to keep safe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now that the pandemic has eased, you’ll see that a lot of companies still employ a remote working model to provide more benefits to their employees, including maintaining their work-life balance. So, VPNs, communication platforms and social media channels are still incredibly useful to this day.
3. Delivery Services
It was understandable why people became afraid to leave their homes during the pandemic. Even going to the store for a daily grocery shop was intimidating. That’s why you can see how delivery services became so popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having your packages and takeaways delivered to your home meant that you did not have to take the risk of actually leaving your house. Instead, the item or food could come to you and you would be safe.
Of course, services like Amazon were going to be popular. They showed a wide range of products that could be delivered to the door within a few days. However, food deliveries were extremely useful for those who were too afraid to leave their homes. This included the elderly and vulnerable people. So, the fact that an order could be made through a phone or on a computer meant that they could sustain themselves.
In addition to this, it was important to keep yourself positive and healthy. The growth of the gaming industry helped with this, due to the availability of indoor exercise games, but deliveries could provide healthy food and groceries to make sure people could still make good meals.
The delivery industry was incredibly useful throughout the pandemic. We cannot forget that a lot of public personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks and gloves, was delivered due to it, along with hand gel and soap. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the delivery industry is still booming.
What do you think about these technology industries?
When we look back on the pandemic, it’s important that we do not forget the strength and sacrifices people made in order to get through it.
Although we were all apart due to social distancing, we did our best to keep positive and find ways to keep ourselves calm. Sadly, many businesses did suffer due to the pandemic. But it is a relief to know that there have been some industries that have not been adversely affected by the lockdown. Hopefully, these industries will be able to sustain their success in the future!