Profitable Online Marketplace Niches for the post-COVID world

The term “post-COVID world” a few months ago seemed a farfetched future, but since the race of Oxford vaccine and Russia vaccine to reach mass production has started, living without social distancing seems possible. COVID devastated the healthcare of many countries and almost brought the economies close to recession. Recovering from such a scenario may seem difficult but the steps that the businesses take right now are extremely crucial.

Amazon reported a 43.4% increase in North American sales and 33.5% worldwide revenue growth in the second quarter of 2020. Also, Instacart, an online grocery marketplace saw a 218% increase in app downloads during the Pandemic. These stats are a clear indication that the popularity of the online marketplace has risen further, even during the pandemic. 

Businesses have to go through the following stages to make their online marketplace relevant in the post-pandemic era: 

• Resolve: To understand the business continuity and employee safety plans with remote work establishment as the default operating mode. 
• Resilience: Cash-flow management for liquidity and solvency is of paramount importance. 
• Return: Starting a business after months of the shutdown is difficult. Businesses need to re-think their supply chain. 
• Reimagine: Online marketplace has to gain insight and foresight the preference of the consumer will be able to succeed. 
• Reform: Society is moving to a more sustainable and future-proof ideology, thus businesses have to understand and reform their operations. 

In the post ahead, we have mentioned a list of niches that may become profitable after the pandemic is over. 

Online Retail – According to Statista, As of May 31, 2020, 27 per cent of respondents in the United States stated that they had deliberately purchased hygiene products online instead of offline. Since the pandemic has emerged, online retail has experienced extreme volatility due to the surge in demand. People have started avoiding public places, especially brick and mortar stores, due to the highly contiguous nature of the virus. 

Customers have increasingly adopted online marketplaces to shop for daily necessities and also resort to online marketplaces for leisure shopping.  The term “Panic shopping” became popular as some commodities were bought at a high rate when COVID-19 spread throughout the world. Even before, consumers were increasingly shifting from offline to online but the pandemic has accelerated this trend. 

To capture the market share, aspiring entrepreneurs have to strike the cord now, choosing a market-ready platform will help earn profits during the pandemic. Choose Yo!Kart, an eCommerce platform to launch your online marketplace with market-ready features. 

Online Rental Marketplace – Rental has become popular among customers due to varied reasons. One of the reasons being that they want to reduce their carbon footprint and they want to keep themselves light to travel around to different places. Another reason is that people want to earn revenue by renting out reusable items lying in one corner of their house. 

The rental niche in itself has varied business models. While some will become profitable after the pandemic, there are others that will take time to recover. Some of the business models under the online rental marketplace: Ride-hailing, Rental apartments, Product rental, Equipment rental, and many more. 

Due to the global economy being unstable right now, people may prefer to rent online rather than own a particular commodity. This business is trending because people are becoming more and more aware of the benefits associated with the rental niche.

For entrepreneurs interested to hop on the bandwagon of online rental, there are numerous software development companies that will develop the rental website. Another option is to choose a ready-made rental eCommerce platform that has been developed keeping in mind the latest market trends. 

Online Food Marketplace– Stepping out to grab a bite has become an irrelevant term since COVID was declared a pandemic. People who are not accustomed to cooking food or want to enjoy the delicacies while they sit at home are ordering food from online food ordering and delivery platforms.

Most countries have opened the lockdown but the rule restricts the restaurant to start dine-in or have limited seating for dine-in, which may positively impact the online food ordering and delivery marketplace. The online food ordering and delivery has adapted to the current situation and consumer behaviour by introducing contact-less delivery. Many other features like temperature update and online payment are allowing customers to easily order food with minimum physical contact. 

Online Grocery – Grocery sector experienced the largest spike when COVID was declared as a pandemic and even now when people are in lockdown. Online grocery is profitable and a lot of start-ups are still investing in this sector.

Even in the post-COVID-19 era people will avoid going to the supermarket to buy daily essentials, online grocery will become the new normal. Once people find a suitable Hyperlocal Marketplace that is providing all the essential items at discounted prices and fast delivery, they will not go back to standing in queues in the supermarkets.

As per Statista, the channels used for grocery shopping have changed for many households in the United States due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-six per cent of respondents stated that they typically bought groceries from online retailers, with a further 21 per cent of respondents reporting that they were now using this channel as a result of the coronavirus.

EduTech  – With Schools and educational institutes closed due to the contagiousness of the virus, eLearning portals became popular. This niche has picked up pace because schools are resorting to online education for keeping the student in pace with the syllabus. 

Teachers and students are now understanding the importance of eLearning and how this can be the future of education. This has been a boon for teachers and students alike who were combatting distance and time issues to get educated. The type of systems that have come up for teaching has made the process simpler and easier.

Other than this, firms are using Education technology to train their employees who are working remotely during the pandemic. Now is the right time to launch an eLearning Platform that will combat the needs of different users. Yo!Coach is a customizable ready-made solution to launch an eLearning & consulting online marketplace. It is integrated with APIs and features that are essential in the current scenario considering students & tutors needs.

Due to COVID-19, most industries have paused and hit reset. While some online niches will rise after the reset, others need to rethink their strategies. Investing in an online business compared to offline will be profitable. Understanding which niche to invest is essential especially now when the economy and future are unstable. You must have gathered some knowledge from the above post to understand which niche is perfect for you. Do an in-depth analysis to understand the current market position of similar businesses.

One thing aspiring entrepreneurs have to understand is that launching an eCommerce marketplace now will be the right move to become profitable post-pandemic. For that, the business needs to find a reliable digital solution provider that will help launch a niche-specific eCommerce marketplace swiftly with scalable features. 

FATbit Technologies engineers digital solutions and services for businesses across the globe. They have been servicing eCommerce businesses for the past 16 years. Their in-house readymade eCommerce solutions pertaining to different business models are a reflection of their in-depth knowledge of the industry. In case of any doubt, you can get in touch with them for a free consultation.