Having spent more than one year in the most unprecedented times of challenge in which everyone has been affected directly or indirectly by health, finance and employment conditions, the bleak statistics can often hide the industries that have done well during the pandemic and are expected to continue to do so in the years ahead. These are some of the successful industries:
Food deliveryThe food delivery industry was forecast to be worth USD41 billion in 2021, but circumstances accelerated growth in 2020 to reach a value of USD45 billion. Food delivery is now set to make up 21 per cent of the restaurant market by 2025. Via, an Israeli-founded ride-sharing and public transport company responded to the crisis by helping cities and municipalities launch effective on-demand transportation for food deliveries and other services and was able to gain a reported USD400 million investment in March 2020.
iGaming CompaniesThe iGaming market has thrived over the last year. In casino news, software development companies have invested in technically advanced mobile platforms to meet changing consumer gambling habits which are expected to drive the market. Even with brick-and-mortar casinos shut for months, the industry has seen an increase in the number of players and the industry is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 10.4 per cent to 2025.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)PPE has been an industry that has been under the spotlight for the last several months. Sonovia has created textiles with active built-in protection against viruses and bacteria. The company was founded by leading Israeli professors and scientists using their knowledge, experience and innovation from the lab to protect people from viruses and infections. The global personal protective equipment market size was valued at USD77.36 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.3 per cent from 2020 to 2028.
Online shoppingOnline ordering was the only way to shop for non-essential items for many people. Amazon reported shoppers spending about USD11,000 per second on the site, increasing the wealth of CEO Jeff Bezos by more than USD70 billion. In terms of retail sales, online shopping currently makes up 16.1 per cent of retail sales worldwide, but that figure is forecast to rise to 22 per cent by 2023.
Companies that support the delivery of online shopping have also been thriving. In Israel, Flytrex is working with drones so that consumers in remote locations can receive deliveries efficiently. Also, Israeli delivery logistics solutions company Bringg helped small-and-medium-sized businesses rapidly launch and scale delivery operations in the wake of shutdowns.
ELearningAll ages have moved from in-person learning to virtual learning. ELearning is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 8 per cent to 2026. New technologies, such as cloud computing and AI, and enhanced network connectivity will drive market growth. One successful eLearning business is JoyTunes, an Israeli company that develops music learning software on mobile apps.
Tech CompaniesAdvances in software have been pushed ahead of schedule to allow for videoconferencing and virtual project management and communication. Verbit, an AI-powered automatic speech and transcription platform created in Israel, is now being used by universities, including Harvard, to transcribe classes for students learning remotely. In addition, Personetics is an Israeli fintech company that allows banks to use AI to analyse customer data to better optimise their finances during a crisis.
Dating appsThe grown in dating apps had been falling from a high of 32.5 per cent in 2016 to just 5.3 per cent growth in 2019. The global pandemic led to a new surge in downloads and interactions, with Tinder users swiping through up to three billion possible matches in just one day. The forecast is for app daters to increase at a rate of 18 per cent from 2019.
Cleaning ServicesThe cleaning industry market is expected to see an upward trend, with growth at a CAGR of 6.3 per cent by 2025. The pandemic has seen a growth not just in deep cleaning by professional business services, but the home cleaning industry too. The demand and supply gap is narrowing and a focus on green cleaning products are expected to be a game-changer in the future.