Keith Nallawalla
This year has become a rollercoaster ride for the whole world as the Coronavirus Pandemic also known as Covid-19 started to spread. The impact it made is undeniably enormous affecting almost every sector of the business industry. It has caused a lot of my favourite clients to pause their digital marketing services with my company and affected our Google Ads team in particular and the whole team working reduced hours to help ensure we could keep as many staff as possible.
Some businesses have been left without a choice but to lay off a number of their employees, and some, unfortunately, to shut down permanently. However, while many companies experience real struggle in 2020, there are still businesses out there (including the small ones) that manage to operate and do well in this time of crisis as their services are essential parts of the situation. That said, below is a list of businesses that appear to be doing quite well right now.
Grocery Stores
Ever since the news about the pandemic popped, people from everywhere started crowding the supermarkets to make sure they have enough supplies at home. This made the grocery companies take extra efforts to efficiently meet the demand. There are also some stores that even extended their shopping hours to accommodate the high number of consumers around the world.
Locally, we had supermarkets operate special hours just for the elderly and vulnerable so they would get a chance to buy essentials before the hoards of panic buyers bust in buying a year’s worth of toilet paper in one go.
Food Delivery Services
The stay at home policy had become a struggle for some especially those who don’t find cooking fun. So instead of exerting their energy in the kitchen, they opt to take the more convenient way – having their foods delivered at their doorstep. Food delivery companies even started hiring more drivers due to the increased number of customers from day to day.
Ordering foods online has been a trend for a while now and it boomed, even more, when food delivery apps were developed. When Covid-19 happened, restaurants weren’t allowed to open.
I recall finding it frustrating that a lot of good restaurants were not available on UberEats, Deliveroo, Menulog, DoorDash etc. It was incredibly frustrating to check each of these apps for certain places. Now pretty much every place you can think of is on multiple of these apps. It’s really the only way they can stay open.
Covid-19 is a great time for those who love takeaway food, but the restaurants and cafes themselves are certainly running on skeleton staff.
Kitchen and Baking Supplies Stores
As opposed to the previously mentioned food delivery services, other people apparently take advantage of the stay at home policy to awaken their cooking skills and learn more techniques in the kitchen. Because of this, kitchen and baking supply stores are experiencing an increased demand for their products. It also helps that many cooking and baking tutorial videos can be found online that people can easily follow, making them encouraged to be in the kitchen as they stay at home.
Another reason is that special occasions like birthdays can no longer be celebrated outside with everyone, people opt to delight on home-cooked meals instead or simply bake their own cakes at home – a safer and a much pocket-friendly choice.
At my local shopping centre, Pacific Werribee all the kitchenware stores were closed and Kmart, Target, Big W, Coles and Woolworths were all low on kitchenware. I recall we found it really hard to find a rolling pin during this time. Everyone took up cooking. Even basic ingredients were sold out such as flour and yeast were impossible to find for weeks.
Wine and Liquor Stores
Bars and pubs are among the most affected by this pandemic. Since they are usually crowded by customers, they’ve not been allowed to operate in their usual capacity. What people do is they drink at home, stock up their house bars and virtually hang out with their friends. Wine and liquor stores have been increasing in sales as customers keep on buying in exchange for the missed night outs and booze parties. Here in Australia, there were limits placed on the amount of alcohol you could purchase at bottle shops and some bars were even converting themselves into makeshift bottle shops.
Commercial Cleaning Services
It’s become a must to take precautionary measures both at home and more so when going outside. Establishments like offices, stores and medical facilities have been complying to these guidelines by having their places cleaned and disinfected far more frequently than normal. Good thing cleaning companies are there to provide their services and make use of the time to help prevent the spread of the virus. Sanitizing teams are one of the most needed at this time. Domestic cleaners may have found their work reduced as people who are stuck at home or out of now have more time to clean for themselves.
Medical Supply Manufacturers
Face masks, hand sanitiser, gloves, and personal protective equipment (PPE) are on the top list of the most sought items associated with the Covid-19 phenomenon. The worldwide demand for these items has put the manufacturing companies to double their time and energy in providing their services not only to the medical sectors but to the general public as well.
We can’t blame the people for hoarding these types of supplies because it’s true that prevention is always better than cure. As of this time, manufacturers still continue to produce more products because the demand hasn’t gone down yet and they even expect that it won’t go down anytime soon.
In Australia, we’ve even seen alcohol manufacturers starting to swap towards the production of hand sanitiser products. I’m so glad my partner works for a healthcare product manufacturer and hasn’t lost any work or pay at all!
Telemedicine Services
Going to the hospital nowadays means risking your own health as we don’t know who among the other consulting patients have the virus. To prevent this untoward incident, health sectors make use of the technology to provide services to people without having to go out of their houses. People can simply make phone calls or be online for their consultation and medical professionals will directly address their health concerns.
Since COVID patients become every hospital’s priority today, doctors nevertheless would want to still get in touch with their other patients. Thanks to telehealth services that they’re making it happen without risking the health of their clients.
Glass and Perspex Companies
Businesses that involve physical interaction with clients such as supermarkets, DIY shops, convenience stores, specialty stores, etc. have started putting up clear glass or perspex screens and divisions in order to protect their staff from direct contact with shoppers. This makes these suppliers another in-demand business at this point. It’s a great idea especially for those who work in the frontline. These companies provide both security and protection to workers that’s why business establishments find it a must to avail this type of service.
Home Improvement Stores
With everyone stuck at home, it seems we all realised how much work needs to be done around the place. Home improvement stores such as Bunning Warehouse all over Australia had massive lines for people to enter.
Gardening Supplies
Another fun task during the lockdown period is improving the house yards. Gardening supplies shops have reported a significant increase in sales as folks opt for a more productive activity at home, which is gardening. Some companies even offer special programs where members can avail packages that include planting guidelines, how-to catalogues, and a team to consult for your gardening needs. Many consumers surprisingly patronise these shops because of the great outcome they can achieve after this home quarantine period.
These stores mentioned that some of their clients take this time to finally build their dream garden that has been planned for ages. And for those in the agricultural side, this is the perfect time to grow their own fresh produce as it will save them time and money. So instead of having to go to the market, all they have to do is harvest from their own garden by the time they’re ready to be picked.
Fitness Equipment Stores
Gyms or fitness centers are one of the establishments unable to operate since the onset of Covid-19. For this reason, people have no choice but to do their workouts at home, making the fitness equipment stores another go-to shop during this time.
Home workouts have clicked even before because like cooking tutorials, workout videos are all over the internet today. We can even find tips on how to set up your own gym at home. People find it very timely to avail fitness equipment to burn calories they’ve been gaining since the home quarantine began.
As a result, stores that stock any kinds of fitness gear have struggled to keep stock on the shelves. Facebook also became full of people trying to flip their dirty old fitness gear for well above retail price.
Logistics and Professional Delivery Services
Because people are scared to go outside and the government restricts it too, logistics and professional delivery services boost their resources in order to transport items more efficiently. This called for more manpower as well to make sure that companies meet the high demand of these services. Some companies even had to make adjustments with the working hours, making them operate 24/7 because both sellers and clients keep piling up on their list.
Online Education and Short Course Services
There are people who take being productive at home to the next level. They enroll on different online classes and/or short courses because school facilities are not exempted from the shutdown. What these educational institutions are doing is they shift to online programs as the new platform for learning. This is a clear win-win course of action because companies profit from their clients and at the same time the clients need not to go out and be educated at the comfort of their homes.
Video Game, Board Game and Puzzle Retailers
Entertainment is an important thing as the family stays at home. Both kids and adults need to unwind and involve themselves into something interesting or else boredom will strike hard. We’ve seen this particularly with shortages of Nintendo Switch consoles. I love my Nintendo Switch, but I’ve seen a lot of people miss out on buying these new as hoarders are even buying these to slip on eBay and Facebook. Certain games like Animal Crossing came out right at the start of COVID-19 lockdown and became hard to access at retail. Even stores like EB Games here in Australia and I think their US counterpart GameStop refused to close down, at least for a period.
At one point, puzzles were actually really hard to get, retailers were sold out and eBay was full of used puzzles for above retail prices. I’m not a big fan of puzzles myself, but they’re one of those classic activities that the whole family can gather around and work on together.
Tech Stores
Covid-19 outbreak caused many companies to impose work from home set up within their employees. In line with this, sales on electronic gadgets like computers, laptops, printers, including accessories and office furniture had a significant spike up in the market. The same applies to students who started homeschooling programs since educational institutions are still not allowed to open.
Online Retailers
All of my ecommerce clients and probably all of the ecommerce clients at my work have absolutely boomed during this period. This is across every industry possible. My clients in pet supplies, curtains and blinds and ink cartridges have all had their highest selling months back to back.
That’s everything I can think of that seems to be doing well right now. Have I missed anything?
