According to the research data analyzed and published by StockApps.com, US department stores reported a 75% drop in sales during Q2 2020. The report estimated a decline of 60% for the whole year, while predicting a 20% increase in e-commerce for the same period.
Globally speaking, a Forrester report predicted that retail sales would lose the equivalent of $2.1 trillion in 2020. According to Forrester, it will take at least four years for the retail business to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
During Q2 2020, e-commerce sales in the US increased by 31.8% compared to Q1 according to a US Census Bureau report. Compared to Q2 2019, there was a 45.5% increase.
From a total retail sales figure of $1.31 billion, e-commerce sales accounted for 16.1% of the market share. It was a sharp rise from a share of 10.8% in Q2 2019. According to eMarketer, US e-commerce sales could jump by 18% by the end of 2020. On the other hand, offline retail could drop by 14% to $4.18 trillion, driving overall retail down to 10.5%. Such a drop would be steeper than the 8.2% that was recorded during the 2008/9 recession.
Moreover, clothing is among the categories that take the biggest hit in retail. On the other hand, alcohol, grocery and home improvement categories report an uptrend. eMarketer further highlights that apparel and accessories would have the least growth at 8.6%. Food and beverage would, however, jump by 58.5%. It mentions Walmart as one of the top beneficiaries of this shift. The report predicts a 35% increase for Walmart in 2020 and a share of 5.8% of all retail e-commerce sales. It would place it ahead of eBay, which will be third with a 4.5% share. Amazon will take the lead with 38%.
The full story, statistics and information can be found at StockApps.com.
