Retail & Ecommerce

Recent research has found that the stringent lockdown in France has boosted ecommerce dramatically as consumers make fewer in-store trips.

As the coronavirus pandemic leaves many fearing for their health and jobs, consumers are shifting their time and money toward things with immediate utility in daily life. But they're not entirely closed off to companies with products that don't fall under that category — brands can still prove their value during the crisis by providing help to others.

Retail social commerce sales in China will grow to $242.41 billion (RMB1.675 trillion) this year, accounting for 11.6% of total retail ecommerce sales in the country, according to our latest estimates.

Confined to their homes, consumers now have more than the impetus of convenience to shop online. It’s become necessity for many people—a condition that will likely boost ecommerce habits for years to come. Nearly four in five adults (79%) in Canada spent 20% or less of their total shopping budget online prior to COVID-19, according to a Forum Research poll in April 2020.

In recent months, as stores temporarily closed and consumers refrained from going out to shop, one of the clearest emerging trends has been the accelerated shift to ecommerce, especially among older consumers.

eMarketer principal analysts Mark Dolliver and Nicole Perrin at Insider Intelligence discuss the most significant consumer behavior shifts in the wake of the coronavirus. They then talk about where people start their online shopping, search trends during the pandemic and how young is too young for kids to use chat apps?

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for traveling dropped off significantly, especially in the US and UK, two of the hardest hit countries. The situation is exacerbated by a halt in business traveling and cruise ships worldwide.

The pandemic and ensuing shutdown has forced many businesses to pivot their strategies and consumer offerings. We recently spoke with Amit Shah, CMO of 1-800-Flowers, about how the company has adapted—and continues to adapt—during the pandemic and how it navigated Mother's Day amid social distancing.

The US retail sector could take years to recover from the impact of the coronavirus, and the hit could be worse than that of the Great Recession. According to eMarketer’s latest forecast on US retail sales (which includes auto and fuel), total retail sales will drop by 10.5% this year, steeper than the 8.2% drop in 2009. Ecommerce is the only bright spot, jumping 18.0% this year, as Americans rely on Amazon and other online retailers for necessities.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Blake Droesch and principal analyst Andrew Lipsman at Insider Intelligence discuss what reopening retail will look like, what people feel when they multitask, a TikTok competitor that pays you to watch videos, good deeds during the coronavirus, the most popular payment methods, Queen Elizabeth's first job and more.

The number of social buyers in the UK will rise to 10.0 million in 2020, a 13.3% increase from 2019, according to eMarketer estimates.

Attend our webinar, exclusive for eMarketer PRO clients, on how the coronavirus continues shaking up businesses and consumer trends

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic are turbocharging digital transformation in China's retail sector—and the country is already leading the world in terms of retail ecommerce sales and penetration.

As social distancing practices continue in the US, consumers are increasingly using their credit cards for restaurants and groceries. In Bankrate polling conducted by YouGov, 51% of respondents said they used a credit card for restaurant takeout in April, vs. 30% who said the same in December 2019.

eMarketer research analyst Daniel Keyes, principal analyst Andrew Lipsman and senior forecasting analyst Cindy Liu at Insider Intelligence discuss what happened when Amazon eased up for a few months and what will happen when it hits the gas. They then talk about some new Google features, Amazon looking to buy a driverless car company and some maybe permanent grocery store foot traffic trends.

Clothing and apparel retailers will see steep declines in 2020 as spending on discretionary items comes to a near halt amid the ongoing pandemic. We forecast a drop of nearly 22% in 2020 for total sales of apparel and accessories, which equates to a year-over-year loss of over $100 billion.

TechStyle Fashion Group, a global fashion retailer that operates membership-based direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands—including ShoeDazzle, JustFab, Kate Hudson’s Fabletics and Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty—has become one of the fast-growing retailers with more than 5.5 million active members worldwide since it launched a decade ago.

Frictionless commerce, a trend permeating many facets of the customer journey today, leverages technology to improve the retail experience by saving people time and hassle. And arguably the most competitive battleground in frictionless commerce is in fast and free ecommerce delivery.