Streaming and delivery services grow more popular during quarantine

Due to customers’ inability to leave their homes, many online businesses and services are booming.

MAREESA ISLAM/GraniteBayToday.org file photo

During quarantine, many have resorted to shopping, streaming, and ordering online from the comfort of their home.

Since quarantine has started, online streaming and delivery services have become much more useful. For example, Amazon sold, shipped, and streamed more food, products and video content during the first three months of 2020 and their revenue rose 26 percent to $75.5 billion. In addition, DoorDash’s revenue grew 21 percent in March compared to the previous month. And Netflix released its 2020 earnings on April 21, In a letter to shareholders.

According to Netflix, with many people staying in their households, more are joining Netflix’s streaming services. “Our membership growth has temporarily accelerated due to home confinement,” Netflix said. 

Food delivery, streaming services, and multinational conglomerate technology companies are all profiting from quarantine, meaning that people have spent much more time and money on these services. 

“I have spent so much time on my phone mostly watching Tik Tok (and) Netflix. But I also ordered a lot of food from DoorDash and I got their monthly option because I just order way more than (normal),” freshman Kaligh Oliveri said.

While some spend time on Netflix, others prefer other streaming services.

“We used to have Netflix but my family is a huge fan of Disney, so we completely switched to Disney Plus,” sophomore Jenn Wolfe said.

Jenn Wolfe added that she has used these services more than usual during quarantine. 

“We do use DoorDash… more than (we did) before quarantine,” Wolfe said.

A common occurrence seems to be that students and their families have spent more time and money on streaming and food delivery services. 

Yet, some students don’t use any streaming or delivery services at all.

“Our family doesn’t use Netflix or any other streaming (service) because they think it’s a waste of money,” sophomore Elise Griffon said. “Same with the DoorDash. We just don’t want to spend money on that. We just cook at home mostly, however, we do use amazon (for things) we can’t get at the store.”

Whether it’s food, entertainment, or other services, companies have tried to adapt to quarantine and be more cautious. Students have certainly been using the services now more than ever before.