Despite the challenges to business caused by the global pandemic that began in 2020, there has been rapid growth in some industries in 2021. Online businesses have registered the highest growth even if their traditional brick-and-mortar sites have been squeezed. With shifts in culture due to changes in the home-work-life balance, some industries have adapted successfully to secure their future and healthy profits. Here we look at some of them:
iGaming operators
The iGaming market has thrived over few years and particularly so in the last year when the focus on advanced technologies was incorporated into games. The best casino sites profited from the investments made by software development companies in technically advanced mobile platforms that continue to grow the market. Whilst traditional brick-and-mortar casinos have registered a decline, the iGaming industry has witnessed a huge increase in player numbers and the industry is predicted to grow at an annual rate of around 10 per cent for the next five years.
Food delivery
The food delivery industry has been booming and continues to do so. Forecast to be worth USD41 billion in 2021, the industry is not expected to be worth around USD45 billion by the end of 2021 and is expected to make up more than 20 per cent of the restaurant market by 2025. Many ride-sharing and public transport companies shifted their business to incorporate effective on-demand transportation for food deliveries and other services that brought in business but also an investment for growth.
Online learning
With all ages having experienced virtual learning at some stage in the last year, eLearning is expected to grow at an annual rate of eight per cent to 2026. Cloud computing, AI, and enhanced network connectivity is expected to underlie this market growth, with some of the changes made in 2020 now incorporated into permanent online teaching methods. According to a survey carried out by Times Higher Education, most university leaders predict that full university courses will available for online study by 2030.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity has always been a vast industry and increasing threats have seen significant investment in cybersecurity to deal with scams and hacking into accounts. As an example, spam email campaigns targeting those working from home in the UK rose from 12 per cent in 2019 to 60 per cent six weeks after the country went into Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. Cybersecurity budgets are set to increase by more than 12 per cent in 2021 in comparison to last year.
Dating apps
The popularity of dating apps fell from a high of 32.5 per cent in 2016 to just 5.3 per cent growth in 2019. In 2020, with restrictions of movement in place, there was an 18 per cent increase in the number of app daters in comparison to 2019. The forecast is for the industry to continue growing since it offers an effective vetting process to ascertain whether a relationship with a particular individual is worth pursuing, Experts have forecast that by 2035, more people will be meeting their partner online rather than in real life.
