Believe it or not, COVID-19 has given a big blow to the economic situation of nearly every country in the world, to some extent. I mean, a temporary halt to nearly ninety-five percent of the businesses and government organization of a country, and that too for 3-4 months is really something that is bound to affect the economy. Well, there are some of the businesses or services which are required by the economy no matter what, and these are the businesses that may bounce back right after the lockdown, for example, transportation and warehousing. On the other hand, there are businesses that may take time to come back to normal, like travel and shopping.

According to the economic times, “sectors like transportation, storage, warehousing would come back quickly once the lockdown is lifted, and those who would not bounce back anytime soon, are those which depend on people’s behavior like travel, staying in hotels, flying overseas, and going shopping malls, for example”. However, here are some of the businesses benefiting from the lockdown and may also prevail in the market after the lockdown.

1. Edtech

According to businessworld.in, “India has the largest school-going population and higher education infrastructure in the world. According to a report, the sector is pegged at $ 100 billion and will grow at a CAGR of 7.5% to $ 144 billion by 2020.” Now, this billion-dollar sector cannot be shut down for a long time, it has to find its way to reach its students and continue the process, however it may be. So, for that sake, every other school and the university of India started conducting online classes and exams. The firms who were already in this field, of online teaching, benefited from the lockdown and their growth rate will continue to increase for a long period of time now.

Just now you read about how the education system of India reacted to this sudden lockdown across the nation. If we talk about our online education system, nowadays, factors like an increase in smartphone users and internet penetration have increased the awareness of e-learning, which will majorly speed up the growth rate of this sector. According to the latest reports, the online education market in India is expected to reach INR 360 billion by 2024. Thus, the pandemic has only accelerated its growth.

2. Retail and E-retail

If we talk about retail, many Indian households rely on their neighborhood grocery stores and do not believe in purchasing products like edible items, household equipment and etc. Due to this reason, there shall be an increase in footfall post-lockdown, and thus an increase in retail sales. A large population of the world, not only India, watches Bollywood movies. In India, to be specific, there are many people who like to watch movies in theatres, and because of this reason the footfalls in multiplex a bound to earn good profits. I admit, it will take time in this, but facts just cannot be ignored. Now, on the other hand, if we talk about E-retail, people who are aware of the precautions and seriousness of this pandemic situation are restricted from buying anything offline or by going outside their premises. They are ordering everything online to ensure compliance with social distancing. As a result, e-retail sales will increase.

3. Banks or BFSI on a whole

The banking sector has suffered during the lockdown due to the closer of everything for a couple of months. But, if we think about it, this is a perfect chance for BFSI players to come up with new business models that are more digitally driven. As we all know, India is a cash-driven country, and despite various measures, has not been able to outgrow its independence on cash. Due to this factor, the functioning of banks is crucial for the economy, and as this procedure of ‘Unlocking India’ continues, people shall use more and more services of banks.

Also Read: Chinese Apps banned in India

4. Medical and Fitness

Owing to the fact that, by keeping personal hygiene we can fight this war against COVID-19. People will start adopting better personal hygiene practices post-lockdown, so the sales of products like sanitizers will rise. In fact, when the lockdown was not even imposed, people started buying hand sanitizers and other sanitary products. As a result, disinfectants and sanitizers are recording the highest sales. The trend, of maintaining better hygiene at a personal level as well as at home, is expected to continue for a considerable period of time.

Now, if we talk about fitness, there are a lot of people who were going to the gym or doing other sports on a regular basis. For them, this lockdown and a long shutdown of stadiums and gyms mean a halt from doing the thing they love and the worst part is, nobody knows for sure when the gyms and stadiums will be open. These are the people who will order fitness products online, like jumping rope or maybe a complete home gym kit.

5. Video conferencing and collaboration in Lockdown

As we proceed into the unlock process in various parts of the world, from a complete lockdown when face-to-face communication and meetings were avoided and distant meetings were the new need or trend, whatever you may call it. In this situation, various video conferencing apps like zoom, Microsoft teams, and Google meet came into use, which was unknown to a large part of the population before the lockdown.

These firms, zoom, Microsoft, and Google acquired the market in the lockdown itself, thanks to lockdown and social distancing. As per the Hindustan times, “Zoom, the Chinese video conferencing app, naturally had one of its best quarters in 2020 as per its latest earnings report. This is mainly due to the increased usage of the platform by millions for casual and official purposes since most were at home during the pandemic lockdown.

As per the earnings, Zoom reported a revenue generation of $328 million in the February and April quarter. For reference, this is more than double what the company earned in the same time last year – $122 million.” Here is a fact, to which we all may agree, that any kind of distance communication whether it is video
conferencing or calling, can never replace the face to face communication but in situations this these, when people and businesses all over the world have no idea of what to do, these video conferencing apps deliver great service.

CONCLUSION

So, these were the list of 5 businesses that may bounce back after the lockdown is uplifted completely which may take another couple of months to happen. The purpose of providing this information is that if you are an investor, then these are the businesses that may earn you some profit. For example, shares of Zoom, increased by 130% in the first quarter of 2020. Please comment below if this article was helpful, interesting or nothing. Suggestions are always welcome.