COVID-19 Impacts On The Global Hand Trucks & Dollies Industry - The Bright Side Of The Pandemic
It has already been two years since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, shrouding the entire world in "darkness". Finally, we now believe it is nearly time to let go of that "phantom" and return to normal life. The COVID-19 impact, however, is still a matter for many business sectors that have yet to recover, including the hand truck industry. Before getting ready for the Halloween holiday, let's take a few moments to reflect on how the pandemic affected the hand truck industry after two years with WOODEVER.
COVID-19 has had an impact on the hand truck market in two ways. Manufacturing industry demand has decreased. Warehouse industries, on the other hand, which have seen widespread adoption in e-commerce, have grown in popularity. E-commerce has grown significantly during the pandemic as people have purchased more online. According to numerous business articles, Amazon's revenue more than doubled during COVID-19. All of the negative effects on the hand truck industry have been offset by e-commerce.
THE IMPACTS
Since the COVID virus engulfed the world in 2019, the hand truck market has also experienced a slowdown as a result of the pandemic. According to Statista, the total global revenue for the hand truck market in 2019 was approximately US$ 3.94 trillion, down from a value of US$ 5.4 trillion in 2014. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on nearly every aspect of the hand truck industry, namely business closures, employee shortages, processing disruptions, and logistics.
1. Business closures
In the big picture, 41.3% of businesses reported that they were temporarily closed because of COVID-19. A far smaller number—1.8%—reported that they were permanently closed because of the pandemic. As Asia-Pacific accounts for the largest share of the global hand truck market and China is the world's largest producer of hand trucks, the severe COVID outbreak in this country has had a significant impact on the industry's global supply chain. Under the lockdown policy and restriction rules of China government during the peak time of the pandemic, many warehouses and factories of hand truck manufacturers had to declare contemporary closure or partial closure. In the United States, the widespread pandemic and its resulting public policies have prompted permanent closures for many small businesses.
2. Employee shortages
The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated one of the worst job crisis episodes since the Great Depression. Up to November 2022, COVID has caused 7.52 million cases and 12,427 deaths worldwide, causing businesses significant losses and impacts due to a labor shortage. COVID-19 undoubtedly resulted in massive layoffs for big players in the hand truck market, such as America and China. Employees are unable to work or can only work for a limited number of hours due to many factors, such as health issues, fear of being contagious, company closure, social distance policy, and restriction rules. According to a recent Cornell University study, up to 31% of employees in America who were added back to payrolls following COVID-19 layoffs have been laid off again. Companies like Amazon and grocery delivery services were rapidly hiring at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to meet the high demand placed on their markets. However, data shows that over 13 million Americans are now receiving unemployment benefits. Even when job opportunities in the material handling industry arise, people would prefer to remain stable and unemployed rather than take a job that they may lose.
3. Processing disruptions
Manufacturing production has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, characterized by supply disruptions, drops in demand, and an overall recession. The industrial zone in some countries and regions, including China, East Asia, and Europe, was higher affected since their factories are unable to operate or even shut down due to rules on social distancing, labor shortages due to sickness, and lack of materials.
4. Logistics barriers
For the hand truck industry, logistics companies play an important role in value chains both within and across international borders, facilitating trade and commerce and assisting businesses in getting their products to customers. The majority of products are exported and shipped to customers all over the world via containers, ocean liners, or cruise ships. However, the COVID-19 pandemic created obstacles in the form of country restrictions, customs regulations, and trading costs, making the import/export process extremely difficult. Covid-19 has had a direct impact on logistics companies that deal with the movement, storage, and flow of goods.
THE BRIGHT SIDE
COVID-19 impact on industries is gradually eradicating, which will revive the old market for hand trucks. The global market for hand trucks is expected to benefit significantly from the world's rapidly growing e-commerce sector. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a drastic change in the way consumers have shifted toward online buying. The good news is that global e-commerce sales are expected to reach $4.5 trillion by 2021. The market value of hand trucks is expected to increase by more than 45,000 million US dollars as technology and economic levels improve. The e-commerce, retail, and wholesale industries are also increasing the utility and adoption of hand trucks globally. The Retail & Logistics segment will lead the overall hand truck market from 2018 to 2025. Immense change in the transportation and logistics industries considering independent movement, lifting, and placement of discrete loads in a specific facility has pushed the hand truck market positively.
WOODEVER's RESPONSE TO COVID-19
WOODEVER is a manufacturer and supplier of hand trucks, platform carts, and ladders with two production lines in Vietnam and China. During the pandemic, our company strictly adhered to both governments' social distance regulations. This protocol is accommodated by changing operating procedures, reducing labor capacity in a facility, updating shift times and schedules, performing frequent temperature checks, and adding personal protective equipment such as hand sanitizer stations, face shields, masks, or gloves. With all of these efforts, WOODEVER is successful at providing regular business services to customers during difficult times and keeping the manufacturing process running normally without any interruption.
WOODEVER is among the top leading hand truck manufacturers and suppliers in Taiwan and APAC region. With our slogan “Better solutions come in handy” WOODEVER’s vision is to provide innovative and cost-effective solutions that assist users all over the world transport materials more safely and efficiently.
“BETTER SOLUTIONS COME IN HANDY”
WOODEVER manufactures and innovates a wide array of hand trucks and platform carts such as upright hand trucks, convertible hand trucks, appliance hand trucks, hand trucks for special purposes, industrial platform carts, etc. Additionally, we offer project services for global sourcing, bulk buying, OEM & ODM, consultation, and customization for business customers. With over 20 years of expertise in the material handling equipment industry, WOODEVER has successfully provided solutions for our 353 clients spanning America, Europe, and Australia.
Please feel free to contact us or learn more about us here:
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Vietnam hydraulic Stamping Machine -
Production capacity up to more than 50,000 units of hand trucks monthly -
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