There are some companies that despite the pandemic, are still growing fast and expect big earnings in 2020. Today we’ll have a look at 3 products which either you have already used or will in some way or another use.
Spoiler: Not all of them kept their pandemic glory—but the ones that adapted are stronger than ever.
*[Editor’s Note: This article was originally written about the 2020 landscape. Below, we revisit these companies to see how they navigated the post-pandemic world of 2026.]*
Shopify
The 2020 Snapshot (Original Text):
Shopify, the industry leader in website building for e-commerce, is one of the most rapidly growing companies. The company, with the pursuit of creating a better e-commerce solution in the market, started by focusing on small wins and scalable solutions. By putting customers first and getting constant insights from their feedback they brought intuitive software and innovative features to the sector.
Other competitors in the sector have many advanced features but this did not win them the top place in the market. These advanced features on paper were probably deemed very useful and tech-wise very cool but finally, it’s the user experience that dictates the market. Users do not care what is behind a button or a process but prefer simplicity and a nicer interface. According to Shopify’s CEO Tobias Lutke, their competitors offered a product similar to “what MP3 players were like before the iPod”.
I sometimes liken the landscape to what MP3 players were like before the iPod. They had tons of “advanced” features like radios and stuff like that but they just sucked. Bulky, hard to use, looked horrible.
Tobias Lütke, CEO Shopify
One of its greatest advantages was dictated by the choice of offering an app store before anyone else. This has helped them keep the core very slim but still practically cover 80% of what users need. Thanks to this strategic decision and their large user base now developers tend to prefer to build apps for Shopify first and this helped them get the most apps in the market.
Shopify, with channels, has now become a centric back office managing the inventory, orders, and shipping while the storefront is found on multiple channels defined as marketplaces.
Shopify comes with 9 very modern free themes mostly showcasing the products with big photos. The important aspect is that they are fully supported by Shopify. One can also use the customizer tool but its complexity makes it difficult for normal users to make changes. Basically, this is a kind of job that should be left to front-end developers or UX designers.
Ultimately, one of the characteristics that makes it a great product is the clean look of the editor. Editors are notoriously complex, bulky, and clunky but Shopifys’ product managers and UX designers did an excellent job. Again, in this case, the fact that they have an app store providing the extra functionality has proven a winning card over competitors.
The initial price tag for the basic product is 29$ which is very reasonable. Furthermore, Shopify Payments do not incur an additional transaction fee!
The 2026 Reality Check:
In 2020, Shopify was the undisputed king of the pandemic e-commerce boom. However, as physical stores reopened, Shopify faced a harsh correction. By 2023, the company had to lay off over 20% of its workforce and made the difficult decision to sell its logistics dream (the Shopify Fulfillment Network) to focus on what it does best: software.
How the Product Evolved:
- AI Integration: True to their “slim core” philosophy mentioned by CEO Tobias Lütke, they haven’t bloated the editor. Instead, they embedded “Shopify Magic” —their AI suite that helps merchants write blog posts, generate product descriptions, and answer customer emails automatically. This keeps the interface clean while adding immense power.
- Pricing: The basic plan is now $39/month (up from $29), reflecting their shift from “growth at all costs” to prioritizing profitability.
- The Checkout Moat: The original article mentioned channels. Today, their biggest weapon is Shop Pay. It has become one of the fastest checkouts on the internet, significantly boosting conversion rates for merchants compared to competitors.
Verdict: Still a market leader, but now leaner and focused on AI-powered efficiency rather than physical logistics.
Zoom Video
The 2020 Snapshot (Original Text):
I put in 14 years of hard work (WebEx and Cisco) during which I faced many unhappy customers. I was always pushed to work hard but wasn’t focused on fixing the customer experience until I got in front of them and actually listened to them. I learned invaluable lessons from those experiences. It’s essential to listen to your customers in real-time and take their input to heart. Always strive to make your customers happy. Without their happiness, you can’t achieve success.
Eric Yuan, CEO Zoom Video
Since the spread of Covid19, Zoom has been the most used tool for video conferencing worldwide. Previously, it was majorly known by the tech industry. However, many tech companies would rather use Lifesize, an excellent product, offering high video quality. Additionally, you can also bundle it up with their specialized meeting rooms’ hardware for the best video conferencing experience.
Now, let’s take a look at why and how Zoom has become so successful.
Zoom is a customer-driven product, built by engineers with years of experience building video conferencing tools. They were focused on getting out a tool that actually works without driving users crazy. All their initiatives were focused on making customers happy. This hasn’t happened over time as the product started back in 2011 and has been growing ever since. In 2013 they had 3 million users participating in a Zoom meeting. In 2014 this figure increased to 30 million, in 2015 to 100 million and now they’re at 200 million every day!
Zoom’s success was built on customers being happy and not on growing fast.
Though the competition was very tough even back in 2011, the CEO believed that the market had the potential for improvement. Zoom’s chance of surviving depended on offering a better product and that is why they focus on customers’ needs.
Another great win was thanks to the marketing strategies adopted throughout the years. One of their first important wins was focusing their marketing on early adopters cause these are the ones that spread the word fast. So they put their first billboards on Route 101 in the heart of Silicon Valley. Other expensive marketing strategies included sponsoring the Golden State Warriors basketball team.
Lately, in the midst of the pandemic, the choice of offering free meetings for up to 100 people for 40 minutes proved to be genial. Everyone who wanted to give online classes, services, or simply a group chat tried this on Zoom. I don’t have the exact figure of how much these converted into paid subscriptions but given that they assume an average of 45 minutes per meeting, the happy customers would happily buy the service for just 140$ annually.
In contrast, their main competitor Lifesize offered free meetings with no time limitations but put a 10 host limit. This strategy proved to be weak as 10 is too little even for a small class. Zoom Video’s product and marketing teams proved how good research, a proper marketing strategic plan, and patience can give you that extra stride against competitors. This has possibly led to Zoom Video getting 800x more revenue than Lifesize.
The 2026 Reality Check:
Zoom’s 2020 numbers were a historic high that was impossible to sustain. As offices reopened and schools returned to in-person learning, daily participation numbers normalized. More critically, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet eroded Zoom’s market share by bundling their video tools for “free” with existing office subscriptions.
How the Product Evolved:
- The Pivot to a Platform: Zoom is no longer just a video app. They rebranded to “Zoom One” —a bundle including Team Chat, Phone, Whiteboard, and Calendar. They are trying to become the entire operating system for hybrid work, not just the meeting room.
- AI Companion: Responding to the “Zoom fatigue” mentioned earlier, they launched Zoom AI Companion (included with paid plans) which summarizes meetings for you if you join late or step away, making meetings less demanding.
- Marketing Shift: The original article praised their billboards and sports marketing. Today, their marketing focuses on enterprise security and AI features, trying to convince big companies that Zoom is safer and smarter than the free Microsoft option.
Verdict: No longer the “overnight sensation” of 2020, Zoom is now a mature, essential utility fighting to stay relevant against bundled competitors.
Netflix
The 2020 Snapshot (Original Text):
Netflix also became a star performer during the pandemic. It is one of those services that make people happy even if confined to their homes. This has added up to 16 million subscribers in the first quarter. Luckily for the investors, Netflix has been performing well but is also growing in net profits. It grew approximately 3 times in 2 years despite the cash spend on the content is growing very fast.
However, Netflix is facing new challenges as in the US the number of subscribers is predicted to start slowing. We’ll see how the product will continue to perform in a few year’s time. I’m curious about how they can boost the cash flow from the actual subscribers. This can prove to be tricky especially due to the tough competition from Amazon and Disney Plus who unlike Netflix are currently spending hundreds of millions in TV ads in the US. In contrast, Netflix is investing more in its content and up to now, this strategy has proven them well. Identifying new markets and customers’ new interests has proved to be the key to their success.
For example, Netflix unlike rivals such as Amazon is upping investment in Turkey where many Turkish series known as “dizi” are being screened in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. Just looking at the number of views of the Turkish series on YouTube might give you an idea of their widespread interest.
“Turkey, with its rich history and cultural heritage, is home to many untold stories. This is why we continue to invest in more and more Netflix originals in Turkey.”
Pelin Distas, Netflix’s director of original content
Pelin Distas, Netflix’s director of original content, said: “Turkey, with its rich history and cultural heritage, is home to many untold stories. This is why we continue to invest in more and more Netflix originals in Turkey.” Personally, I think she’s doing a great job and the users rewarded this effort. I am curious to see if the other providers will follow this trend in the near future making Netflix the top trend-setter in this sector.
The 2026 Reality Check:
That prediction of slowing US growth turned out to be the understatement of the decade. In 2022, Netflix lost subscribers for the first time in 10 years, sending the stock into a tailspin. The “tough competition from Amazon and Disney Plus” mentioned in the original article became a full-blown war.
How the Product Evolved:
- The Ad-Supported U-Turn: The original article hinted at boosting cash flow. In a massive strategic shift, Netflix launched a “Basic with Ads” tier in late 2022. After years of promising “no ads,” they embraced them to offer a cheaper entry point.
- Password Sharing Crackdown: To convert the 100 million+ households sharing passwords, Netflix rolled out “paid sharing” in 2023. This was initially unpopular, but it successfully returned the company to subscriber growth.
- Content Localization: The original article praised the investment in Turkey. This strategy has proven so successful that Netflix doubled down on local content worldwide (e.g., Korean dramas like Squid Game, French thrillers) as a way to win global markets where US competitors are weaker.
Verdict: Netflix survived its “crisis year” by abandoning its old principles (no ads, easy sharing) and focusing on monetizing the users it already had.
Key Takeaways: Then vs. Now
Revisiting these three pandemic darlings reveals a clear pattern:
- The pandemic was a rocket ship, not a destination. Each company saw explosive growth in 2020, but sustaining it required hard decisions once the world reopened.
- AI is the new battleground. Shopify embedded it into their editor, Zoom uses it to fight fatigue, and Netflix uses it for recommendations. The “slim core” philosophy of 2020 now includes AI as a standard feature.
- Monetization shifts. All three moved from “growth at all costs” to “profitability through existing users”—whether through price hikes (Shopify), platform bundling (Zoom), or ad-tiers and password crackdowns (Netflix).
The bigger lesson: Customer-centricity (highlighted in the 2020 quotes) remains vital, but it must evolve with market conditions. The companies that listened—and adapted—are the ones still winning in 2026.
