The last two years have transformed how businesses operate, with most businesses shifting towards a working-from-home culture and others shifting their sales focus online and direct to consumer. The great acceleration has pushed businesses into the future, and whilst the world may now be opening up many of these changes are permanent and the companies that have capitalised on them are set for future growth.
Here are three sectors that have thrived thanks to the recent shift online:
Education
Schools and universities may have struggled with the shift to online learning for all their students in 2020, but the learning management platforms that were already growing before the pandemic have now broken into the mainstream as people looked to find new things to learn during lockdowns.
The availability of internet access and the rising costs of traditional education courses have combined in recent years to make online learning a highly desirable way for people to hone new skills. Top-tier universities have had to pivot to make courses available online and there are already numerous online learning platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, and MasterClass that provide individuals and smaller institutions cost-effective ways to provide online courses.
Indeed, the last few years have seen a boom not only in students choosing to learn online, but also in individuals looking to share their skills and generate income from teaching others. If you need to learn a new skill for work or are just interested in learning about a new topic, there will be a low-cost course available on one of the skills marketplaces that will help you get started. These platforms include courses on everything from cooking to coding and everything in between, and people are signing up in their millions.
iGaming
A large collection of games, convenient payment methods, new customer bonuses, and the ability to play at any time anywhere, have resulted in a thriving online casino sector. The industry is hyper-competitive, with a handful of huge billion-pound behemoths that dominate the space, but smaller niche players have also found their own place in the market with innovative gameplay and new titles.
Creating a new game has traditionally been an expensive exercise, with high development costs and complex regulations on financials and fair play. However, platforms such as Pronet Gaming have emerged to offer companies a cost-effective way to create online gaming websites, letting them focus their efforts on sales and marketing and finding their own niche, such as a gaming site in an under-represented language.
In the past, tools to be able to create a fully functional online casino to meet the standards of today’s players were simply not available to small businesses. But now, those wishing to join the party have been turning to platform suppliers such asThese platform suppliers essentially create online gaming websites that are tailored to the needs of the client and the client is then free to focus on creating and retaining a customer base. It can be a fortunate partnership that relies on finding a gap in a congested market, such as providing a casino in a language that isn’t broadly available or having exclusive games.
Independent food producers
Traditionally, it has always been incredibly difficult for small independent food producers to get their products in front of the public. No matter how good their brownies, coffee beans, or anything else, it has always been a struggle to grow sales when the only way to sell to customers is at markets and popup shops. The acceleration online has transformed these businesses.
As the markets closed over the last couple of years, many small producers decided to start selling direct to consumers online. For companies that produce foods that do not need to be kept chilled, such as coffee beans or cakes the internet has opened them up to a world of new consumers who still wanted their treats but were unable to visit their local shops.
Now the world has opened back up, people have become used to the convenience and low cost of ordering these goods online and the online-only food boutique businesses continue to thrive.
The great acceleration and shift online has forced businesses around the world to rapidly adapt. Those that have been slow to adapt are already struggling, whilst those that made the leap are already seeing the rewards.
