Tech trends that helped us through Recent Events

Throughout the past decades, our daily routines have become increasingly more digital, as technology advances at an incredible pace. However, this was accentuated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this digitalization is expected to grow even further in 2022.

According to recent research, 90 percent of Canadians believed the internet was essential to their daily lives throughout the pandemic. The reliance on digital media has had a tremendous influence on plain everyday activities such as grocery shopping, connecting with family, and even conducting business. The epidemic merely hastened digital adoption, with ramifications that are projected to resonate throughout many businesses for years to come.

Several tech trends, such as online commerce, digital payments, and online entertainment, surged throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and played a critical part in maintaining functionality in times of lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing. And these technologies, whose adoption was significantly accelerated by the pandemic, may have a far-reaching impact way beyond COVID-19.

Online shopping

The COVID-19 epidemic drove everyone to rethink their shopping habits. Whether you preferred internet shopping or in-store browsing, the pandemic disrupted routines in a variety of ways. A recent survey conducted by Nielsen IQ found out that 67 percent of consumers report they shop differently after the pandemic.

Grocery ecommerce skyrocketed in 2020 and 2021, and with the broad development of product categories, numerous firms, like Walmart and eMarketer, reported considerable growth in their digital grocery operations. Retailers rose to the occasion, not just by encouraging more online purchases, but also by adopting emerging technologies that enabled them to engage with consumers and improve their customer experience.

Additionally, according to App Annie’s State of Mobile 2022 report, total time spent by Android users in shopping apps globally reached more than 100 billion hours in 2021, up from just under 85 billion in 2020. Furthermore, fast fashion apps, social shopping apps, and big-box retailers saw the strongest growth in 2021.

Another report, the State of Online Marketplace Adoption by Mirakl, indicated that 70 percent of worldwide customers feel online markets are the most convenient way to purchase, with two-thirds preferring ecommerce sites with online marketplaces.

Online entertainment

The online entertainment industry was one of the few sectors that were able to thrive during the pandemic. The availability of digital services like streaming platforms and online gaming isn’t something new, but quarantines, lockdowns, and social distancing measures have substantially impacted the adoption of these services, which attracted billions of new customers in 2020 and 2021.

Apart from that, several new, unique entertainment alternatives emerged in this period, such as live broadcasts on social media and streaming platforms like Twitch, online streaming of concerts, cloud raves, and even virtual tours of museums and art galleries. The emergence of augmented and virtual reality also led to the advent of new entertainment platforms, while the journey into the metaverse seems closer than ever.

But the online gaming industry was undoubtedly the one that saw the most significant growth, thanks to the launch of a new generation of home consoles and the soaring popularity of esports.

Additionally, the approval of new legislation that regulates online gambling in Canada led iGaming companies such as STS Bet to start expanding their operations in the country, providing a new landscape of gaming alternatives to Canadian players, who are now able to play classic casino games and place wagers on major sporting events from all over the world. With these legislation developments and an increasingly competitive market, the Canadian iGaming industry is projected to be worth over $4 billion by 2030, according to market specialists.

Digital payments

The more time users spend on digital, the more money they spend on it. Person-to-person payments had indicated potential development prior to the pandemic, and COVID-19 ignited and amplified this tendency.

According to recent figures, PayPal volume payment growth hit a record 31 percent in 2020 and it should continue growing in the coming years, as PayPal forecasts a similar increase of more than 30 percent in 2021. Not just PayPal, but the rise of other services like Venmo and Zelle is leading payments and social media to intertwine, and in the third quarter of 2021, Zelle processed about $130 billion on over 450 million transactions.

Major enterprises, small businesses, and regular individuals are increasingly depending on digital payments for everything from commercial transactions to shopping for groceries.

However, the World Bank estimates that more than 1.7 billion individuals are unbanked and may not have simple access to digital payments. The availability of digital payments is also dependent on the availability of internet connection, devices, and a network to transform currency into a digitized form.