Who’s booming during the pandemic - a good news story by EXT MKTG
Zara Deegan
fractional marketing + consultancy | helping agencies and businesses get better known
Have any of you thought about the lack of good news stories? I've been asked many times 'which sectors should our business focus on'? So, I've done some digging and found a whole bundle of growing companies and sectors and so read on for a dose of positivity!
Starting with consultants McKinsey, a report published at the end of September stated "Executives are more hopeful about the economy than they have been at any time so far during the COVID-19 crisis". (Link) Good start and more to follow... Looking at UK Manufacturing, something we (as British citizens) are always concerned about, a Guardian article reported “The PMI for manufacturing, which makes up around 10% of the economy, rose from 40.7 in May to 50.1 in June, while services, which make up 80% of the economy’s output, rose from 29 to 47.”
Within Online Retail & Delivery Services sectors Amazon have listed 15,000 job opportunities and Hermes have said they need 10,000 more staff as the shift home shopping continues and Christmas is round the corner. Within this scope, HGV drivers are also in demand as the number of job postings role by 9.7% as reported in this article by the Guardian. (Link)
Supermarkets Aldi and Lidl are also creating thousands of new jobs and are still opening new stores. Morrisons are also hiring 20,000 staff to handle online shopping and for covering other staff members who may be off temporarily. Ocado has been named the fastest growing UK brand according to BrandZ’s annual Top 75 Most Valuable Brands report, due to a 63.3% growth in brand value. Meanwhile also in this report, Deliveroo has grown by 40%! Boom. That’s some seriously great growth and hopefully that's helping restaurants keep going too. (Link econsultancy)
Boohoo Group (owners of Boohoo, Pretty Little Things, Oasis, Warehouse and Nasty Gal) have seen their revenue grow by 45% according to a statement released at the end of August this year. And Nike’s digital sales have grown 82% year-on-year between June and August.
Gousto (pre-prepared home meals) are creating 1000 more jobs and I’m sure their competitors will also be enjoying a boom as the product sits nicely between cooking from scratch and getting food delivered, something I've long been wanting to try in the UK, but when we tried it before in Canada, there was too much plastic packaging and that didn't sit well with me.
I’ve also looked at businesses that have started during the pandemic; a BBC article named four female entrepreneurs that have recently started businesses, these are; a beauty subscription service (Tingle), Caribbean food kitchen & delivery (MJ Eats), Date Night subscription boxes (Box42) and marketing consultant (CharlieComms). (Link) Really varied ideas and people trying to solve their own issues first which is so inspiring.
Tech is clearly a winner right now, and according to AppsFlyer, there has been a rise of 35% in European e-commerce mobile app installs during local lockdowns in March and April, 12% higher than at the peak of Q4 2019 holiday rush- this is showing a predicts that for this year’s “holiday quarter” should be record breaking. I wonder how apps will earn revenue beyond downloads and in-app purchases? Will they become advertisement platforms?
And finally, the FT have done a ‘Top 100 Companies prospering during the pandemic’ and here's their top 25:
- Amazon
- Microsoft
- Apple
- Tesla
- Tencent (online gaming, China)
- Nvidia (graphics chips for gaming, US)
- Alphabet (tech platform, US)
- Paypal
- T-Mobile
- Pinduoduo (ecommerce, China)
- Netflix
- Meituan (ecommerce, China)
- Shopify
- Zoom Video
- JD.com (ecommerce, China)
- Abobe
- Audi
- Abbie (pharma, US)
- Kweichow Moutan (beverages, China)
- Chug Pharmaceutical (pharma, Japan)
- Alibaba (ecommerce, China)
- Sea Group (tech, Singapore)
- Home Depot (retail, US)
- ASML (tech, Netherlands)
(Link)
So it’s not all terrible, we have to navigate ourselves and our businesses and adjust all the time, this is no different. If you need ideas or just to talk and hear a positive voice, let’s talk.
Zara, Founder and Director of EXT MKTG, email me here or connect via https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/zaradeegan/
