The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused businesses to close forever. In the United States alone, experts project over 100,000 small businesses have “shut permanently since the pandemic escalated in March.” At least 2% of them are gone forever, according to a study conducted in May.
However, there are businesses that thrive in the time of pandemic. They are immune to any lockdown because they serve basic needs, which are sorely needed now.
Food
With everyone staying indoors because of the virus, food and water consumption increased exponentially. COVID-19 has even caused “shortages of products, like beef and pork, in some stores” and led people to commit panic buying.”
Sometimes it takes two hours to get into a supermarket in the Philippines because of their limited customer capacity due to social distancing protocols. This makes people buy groceries good for two weeks to one month to lessen exposure outside.
Fortunately, food businesses won’t close or lay off employees anytime soon because they provide basic needs and services. They adapt to the health and safety measures of the government, temporarily removing dine-ins and opting for deliveries instead.
Delivery and transportation
These support the food industry in shipping online purchases to customers. Most groceries and online sellers partner with transportation apps in delivering orders.
It’s not just food that people want delivered. They want everything they buy outside to be available online. Zoovu said, “ Online shopping for groceries has grown by 400% in since early March, and it appears as though consumers enjoy the convenience of not having to meander through grocery aisles, and it’s a behavior they intend to sustain post COVID-19.”
Consumers outside the US are also looking forward to this new normal of purchasing goods. The study added 58% of online shoppers expect to order more online in coming months. It cited a Digital Commerce 360 research that showed “consumers are committed to continue online shopping to reduce their exposure to others amid the outbreak.”
Mobility is an issue nowadays, with public transportation in the Philippines still largely limited. This enabled people to sell bicycles, electric scooters, and other means of transportation to and from the office.
Health and medicine
Alcohol, face masks, tissue paper, disinfectant sprays, vitamin C, thermometers. These are the most sought after items this 2020 because of the pandemic. They are found everywhere due to public demand, which was skyrocketing at the first half of the year.
Statista said China produced 450 million surgical and N95 face masks as of April 30, 2020. One of the key ingredients in hand sanitizers and medical disinfectants, the price of isopropyl alcohol surged “more than twofold as the new coronavirus outbreak forced people to focus more on self-hygiene tools,” according to Bloomberg.
There was even a shortage of toilet paper in the United States because of panic buying and adjusting to the pandemic. “But stockpiling is not an uncommon reaction provoked by fear, social scientists say. Fear of running out. Fear of the unknown and what is to come,” the Washington Post said.