A clear indication is the great faith in the future within e-commerce. In a measurement carried out by Swedish Trade and published in Handelsbarometern in December 2020, the future indicator of e-commerce increased by 5.5 units to a record high of 122.2. In other words, what has been described as an economic Corona crisis for traditional trade has developed into a financial golden age for online trade, including gambling and other online services.
A study from the University of Gothenburg shows that it is especially pensioners born in the 1930s and the first half of the 40s who have dramatically increased their online trading. According to the study , 23% of people in this age category stated that they buy food etc. online at least once a month. As a comparison, only one percent from the same category did this before the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.
Here we have listed 5 online industries that have grown in the last year.
5. Fitness apps
Many gyms closed when the pandemic hit the world, or people felt too unsafe to visit fitness facilities. That's when the download of fitness apps skyrocketed, so Swedes could still work out and stay in shape without visiting the gym. Sales of yoga mats and other gym equipment have also increased in the past year, and people have been able to work out at home by watching videos on their fitness apps.
4. Video Communication Services
Services such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Skype have become very popular in the past year. Many people work at home and then it is important that there are good services for video communication to create a virtual workplace. Zoom's profits rose from just $21.7 million in 2019 to $671.5 million in 2020 — a huge increase.
3. Delivery Services
Various delivery services have also grown significantly in the past year. Many have been too afraid to leave the house, and then it was convenient to be able to order food and other essentials online and have them delivered to the home. Experts also believe that people will still use delivery services post-Covid, because many have become accustomed to the convenience.
2. Online Gambling
In e-commerce, online gambling in Sweden and Europe is among the really big winners so far. Statistics from the European Gaming & Betting Association from December 2020 show that the total net profit from online gambling in Europe increased by 7% in 2020 compared to 2019. This amount is even more impressive if we look at the amounts in Euros. In 2020, the net profit was 26.3 billion Euro compared to 24.5 billion Euro in 2019, i.e. an increase of almost 2 billion Euro during the pandemic. It is online gambling sites that account for the majority of this dramatic increase. During the same period, the net profit of the land-based casino halls decreased by as much as 33%. In other words, the gambling industry follows the same pattern as other industries that increasingly shift their focus towards more e-commerce.
So why has online gambling increased so dramatically? An important reason is large parts of the physical entertainment industry were forced to remain closed during large parts of the pandemic. Major sporting events were until recently cancelled, which is one of the reasons why the European Football Championship was moved to 2021. At the same time, the need for entertainment remained and more time at home at the computer gradually led to more consumption of online gambling, but also the demand for streaming services such as Netflix and HBO has increased by a whopping 56%.
1. E-commerce
The trend of increased online trading of goods and services is not new but has been significantly strengthened during the pandemic which has proven to be a boon for e-commerce. So why has the Corona pandemic resulted in a dramatic increase in online shopping? There are several factors that can explain this phenomenon.
Firstly, we now spend significantly more time at home than before the pandemic. More and more people work at home in front of the computer and then it is also natural that online trade increases. Another important factor is the Corona restrictions that have dramatically changed our consumption patterns away from physical trade.
Other factors are health and safety. As previously mentioned, it is especially older and more vulnerable age groups that have chosen to shop online. In a time of pandemic and great uncertainty, it feels, in short, significantly safer to shop online than in physical shops in public places.
