People are spending more and more time at home, leading to the rise of the Stay-at-Home Economy trend, with more business opportunities for online shopping, streaming services, and Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR).

Washington, D.C. (Merxwire) - In recent years, with the rapid development of science and technology, people's lives have become inseparable from the internet; Coupled with the impact of the epidemic, more and more people are shopping and entertaining online. Whether people want to buy food, watch a movie, or have an immersive experience, everything can be done online, as long as there is a network, a device, and an app. The longer people stay at home, the more pronounced the Stay-at-Home Economy trend is, making online shopping, streaming services, and AR/VR more potential business opportunities.

The online shopping market is bigger

Ten years ago, it seemed unbelievable for people to buy daily necessities through the internet, especially if their home is next to a department store and a hypermarket. Is there still a need for online shopping? But today, in order to reduce the risk of infection, coupled with the improved delivery efficiency of logistics companies and the more competitive prices of goods in online malls, even if there is a convenience store downstairs, we may still choose to buy goods online.

As the online shopping market has become immense, more and more retailers and brick-and-mortar stores have begun to develop e-commerce. According to data from Statista, a global market research agency, the sales value of global retail e-commerce in 2021 is about US$4.9 trillion, and it is expected to reach about US$5.5 trillion in 2022. Over the next four years, sales are expected to grow by 50%, reaching approximately $7.4 trillion by 2025.

The rise of streaming media services

What are people doing at home? Many people choose to watch movies, watch albums, or listen to music and podcasts to pass the time. In the past, people would go to brick-and-mortar stores to buy Compact Discs (CDs) and rent Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs), but now most people no longer play video and audio files via Discs. People pay for streaming to enjoy movies and music online.

From the popularity of Netflix and YouTube, you can know the business opportunities brought by streaming platforms, and even Disney, Apple, and HBO have launched streaming services, hoping to gain market advantages. According to a Statista survey, in November 2018, 28% of people preferred to go to the cinema to watch first-run movies, and 15% preferred to watch them on streaming platforms. By June 2020, only 14% of people wanted to go to the cinema to see the first-run movie, and 36% wanted to watch it on a streaming platform.

AR/VR metaverse business opportunities

In the past, although people would play games and build their characters on the internet, they were still full of doubts about the concepts of Virtual Worlds and the Metaverse. It was not until Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would change the company name to Meta and put forward the concept and content of the Metaverse which made the virtual world a hot topic and brought a wave of virtual experiences. Including VR, AR, Mixed Reality, and 3D Hologram have ushered in business opportunities.

Metaverse promotes AR/VR technology development and equipment sales and drives the application development of virtual experience in various fields such as games, concerts, and stores. For example, some singers have already held VR concerts, and fans can see them singing up close as long as they wear VR equipment. According to Statista's forecast, AR/VR application downloads will reach 5.5 billion in 2022, with market size of US$209 billion.

Stay-at-Home has driven many internet-related services. In addition to business opportunities in e-commerce, streaming platforms, and the Metaverse, online fitness coaches and tutoring are more popular than ever. Affected by the development of science and technology and the epidemic, people have gradually changed their way of life; as everyone spends more and more time on the internet, it has prompted the active transformation of various industries and brought business opportunities and infinite possibilities.