Retail

• [New] Merchants can lean on ecommerce - which will account for a record-high near-19% of 2020's $1.01 trillion worth of total holiday retail sales - to help encourage holiday spending among consumers wary of in-store shopping.
• [New] E-commerce is rapidly increasing its contribution to total food retail sales, which are expected to rise from less than 1% to 3% in Russia versus 3.5% across developed markets.
• [New] Australia might not be at the point of store stampedes like the United States, but Black Friday sales in 2020 are expected to be the biggest ever.
• [New] Total retail sales in North America will decline in 2020 overall, while online sales will increase by 18.5 %-growth not seen since 2008.
• [New] While the festive season will be challenging for shops and consumers, Mintel expects in-store and online retail sales across November and December combined to hit £81.7 billion.
• [New] The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the retail sector and transformed consumers as it is rapidly changing the $25 trillion global retail landscape, so much so that the global e-commerce sales are set to grow from $4.13 trillion in 2020 to $4.8 trillion in 2021.
• [New] From 2021 Apple will cut fees from 30% to 15% for developers earning under $1m in annual revenue via the virtual store.
• [New] The Off-trade Sales of RTD's in the United States are expected to increase by 37% in late 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19's impact to customers buying in bulk at grocery stores.
• [New] While the COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly slowed the openings of new brick-and-mortar stores, we are still seeing offline experiences from previously online-only brands, and will continue to in 2021.
• [New] With figures like e-retail sales accounting for 14.1% of all global retail sales and projected to reach 22% by 2023, the importance of B2B ecommerce, online wholesale, and ecommerce as a whole will continue to grow as well.
• [New] In 2017, e-commerce was approximately 9% of all retail sales in the U.S., accounting for $343.5 billion in revenue for the year, projected to reach 12.4% by 2020, or just over 1% growth year over year.
• [New] U.S. e-commerce is rapidly growing - online sales in the U.S. are expected to total $795 billion in 2020, up 32% year-over-year.
• [New] Retail ecommerce sales will hit $2.090 trillion in China in 2020, making up 41.2% of all retail sales.
• [New] The value of Ireland's retail ecommerce market is growing with the market worth 2.2 billion euros at the end of 2019: The retail ecommerce market is projected to be valued at 3.8 billion euros by 202445.
• [New] Hundreds of America's 1,100 malls are expected to shut down because of COVID-19 and pressures from online retailers, experts say, and as many as 25,000 stores will close in 2020.
• [New] In addition to an early start to holiday shopping, omnichannel services such as BOPIS (buy online, pick up in store) will change the nature of holiday shopping in 2020 as consumers seek safe alternatives to crowds in physical stores and malls this fall.
• [New] The domestic retail market, which is the fifth largest globally, is projected to surpass $1.7 trillion by 2025, driven by e-tailing.
• [New] The high street's in trouble: in the UK alone, lost sales in 2020 will amount to - £17,281bn and retail's annual sales total will fall by -4.6% in 2020.
• [New] Given that eCommerce holds a significant percentage of the retail pie, the prediction that online retailers will lose up to $130 billion to payment frauds between 2018 and 2023 is a point of concern for retailers across the world.
• Yesway plans to grow its portfolio to over 500 convenience stores in selected regions of the United States over the next several years.
• The UK's online retail association, online sales in the UK grew by just 6.7% in 2019, but a surprising surge in sales during Q4 suggests that it could be on track to bounce back in 2020.
• In the US, the second-largest ecommerce market, sales are expected to hit $794.50 billion, which makes up just 14.4% of total US retail sales.
• Amazon's experiments with automating in-person shopping at a small number of grocery stores in Seattle could help retailers elsewhere create touchless in-store experiences consumers are demanding.

Last updated: 03 December 2020