Opportunities and Growth: COVID and Post COVID-19 Part II

Home Entertainment Industry:

The rising popularity and demand for OTT is a ray of hope at a time when production has halted, and no new fresh content is being created, streaming hasn’t stopped via the OTT platforms and subscribers are hungry for more content. While linear TV viewership has increased by approximately 6-7%, OTT VOD viewership has increased by 38% during the COVID crisis. At present, India is the world’s fastest-growing OTT market. It is estimated to be worth $5 billion by 2023 and $438.5 billion by 2026 globally.

Few factors that can’t be omitted:

• Smart Phones: With 4.78 Billion Users (62% of world population) out of which 3.5 Billion subscribed to of one or the other OTT platforms.
• Advanced Media Streaming Technology: Cloud Based, Live Content and even Video on Demand, view content anytime, anywhere and on any device.
• Personalized OTT Apps: Localization of content, a gamut of choices with regards to genre, titles, personalization, and flexibility of viewing on any device at any place and anytime has provided a seamless experience to viewers.
•  Affordable Pricing: Innovative pricing techniques adopted by several OTT players have helped attract and retain customers on their OTT platforms.

E-Commerce Industry:

As lockdowns became the new normal, businesses and consumers increasingly “went digital”, providing and purchasing more goods and services online, raising e-commerce’s share of global retail trade from 14% in 2019 to about 17% in 2020.

India’s e-commerce industry will grow 84 per cent to $111 billion by 2024 as it gains from demand created by the coronavirus pandemic’s impact. India’s e-commerce market will be driven by mobile shopping, projecting it to grow 21 per cent annually over the next four years. Digital wallets (40 per cent) followed by credit cards (15 per cent) and debit cards (15 per cent) were the most popular payment methods online in 2020. In fact e-commerce was one of the only industry that emerges as the clear backbone of Indian Economy. The country saw people shifting buying habits during lockdown with many consumers acceding to online shopping for the first time and sellers realising the immense potential that e-commerce holds. Segments like personal care, beauty and wellness as well as FMCG and Healthcare saw a volume growth of 95% and 46% respectively. And definitely the rise is going to be persistent post pandemic.

Pick-up Delivery Industry:

Digital and delivery penetration was already gaining momentum before the pandemic. Now, a transformation that was projected to take years is happening in just months. “We see total online food delivery—through online delivery platforms and restaurant self-delivery—of $45 billion in 2020, vs. our prior estimate of $41 billion in 2021, reaching 13% of the addressable market this year and 16% by 2022, vs. 2025 in our prior estimate. That means nearly three years of consumer spend is being pulled forward, led by accelerated growth from delivery platforms,” says Glass.

Use of these online platforms—known in the industry as third-party delivery—has surged, thanks to increased mobile app orders. Casual dining-to-go sales volumes tripled or quadrupled in many cases, as of late April and early May, often outgrowing a restaurant’s own delivery efforts. This could be a positive for the industry, since mobile use can result in higher margin, lower friction transactions and greater retention of customer data. 

Working from home may shift how, when and how often consumers spend on restaurant food. Working from home has risen to roughly 50% during the crisis vs. 15% before.

In India as companies from Reliance to BigBasket put their top dollar in serving daily grocery at your doorsteps, online grocery is going to be the next battleground for growth, expanding to over $18 billion by 2024. The eGrocery market has grown 60 per cent from the calendar year 2020 and is expected to grow 41-49 per cent by the first half of CY21.

Whether its Amazon, Myntra or Swiggy-Zomato, lockdown or not, we had been seen pick and all across India. A habit taken up, is not to get away sooner.

Enterprise Technology Industry:

These are few Segments with prognosis positive:

• Telehealth technology:
• SOCIAL DISTANCING DRAMATICALLY BOOSTS TELEHEALTH ADOPTION

• Continuous & remote diagnostics:
• “TEST, TRACK, & TRACE” PROMISES TO ACCELERATE ADOPTION OF HEALTH MONITORING TECHNOLOGY

• Teletherapy:
• SOCIAL DISTANCING FORCES MENTAL HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND USERS TO EMBRACE REMOTE SERVICES.

• Senior care & aging in place:
• SENIORS AND CAREGIVERS EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY AT HOME AND IN CARE FACILITIES

• Remote learning technology:
• DIGITAL LEARNING INFRASTRUCTURE COULD SEE LONG-TERM BOOST IN K-12 AND SECONDARY LEARNING

• Telecommuting tech:
• REMOTE WORK ACCELERATES TRENDS IN PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT

• Online courses & content:
• CODECADEMY, UDEMY, AND COURSERA MOVE TO TRANSLATE SHORT-TERM DEMAND INTO LONG-TERM GROWTH

• 3D printing:
• MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SHORTAGE HIGHLIGHTS THE POTENTIAL OF AN UNDERESTIMATED INDUSTRY

• Online grocery:
• SURGING DEMAND DRIVES TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN THE SPACE AND CREATES JOBS

• Enhanced e-commerce:
• AS PHYSICAL STORES HAVE BEEN FORCED TO CLOSE, AR/VR TECH HELPS CUSTOMERS TRY PRODUCTS BEFORE PURCHASING

• Conversational AI/chatbots
• BANKING, HEALTHCARE, RETAIL SECTORS LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT GROWTH IN CHATBOT USE

• Cloud call centers
• AI TECHNOLOGY COULD DRIVE FASTER RESPONSE TIMES AND BETTER SUPPORT

• Contactless payments:
• EARLY SIGNS POINT TO STRONG, LASTING SHIFT TOWARD CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS

• Branchless banking
• TRADITIONAL BANKS COULD LOSE MORE THAN 40% OF REVENUE TO DIGITAL COMPETITION

• Parametric insurance:
• FORMERLY NICHE INSURANCE PRODUCTS COULD SOON BECOME MAINSTREAM

• Personal surveillance technology:
• INVASIVE SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY IN EXCHANGE FOR SAFETY MAY BECOME MORE ACCEPTABLE

• Distributed cybersecurity:
• REMOTE WORK & EDUCATION MAY TRANSFORM CYBERSECURITY INTO A $250B ENTERPRISE

• Social online gaming:
• GAMERS, ONCE ACQUIRED, ARE LIKELY TO STICK WITH E-GAMING

• Virtual events:
• MORATORIUM ON LARGE GATHERINGS DRIVING INNOVATION IN SPORTS, ENTERTAINMENT, GOVERNMENT

• Restaurant & grocery delivery:
• FOOD DELIVERY APPS SEE FLOCKS OF NEW RESTAURANTS; SOME PIVOT TO GROCERIES TO MAINTAIN RELEVANCE AMID LOCKDOWN
• Cloud kitchens:
• SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES PUSH NICHE “VIRTUAL” KITCHENS INTO THE MAINSTREAM