Retail & Ecommerce

Retail ecommerce in Western Europe was already growing at a healthy clip, both in aggregate and as a share of overall retail, but we now expect that the pandemic will cause overall spending to increase much faster than anticipated. Even as overall retail declines by 9.9% in the region, we estimate that ecommerce sales will jump by 16.9% this year—well up from our pre-pandemic forecast of 8.8%.

Digital is quickly becoming the channel of choice for many advertisers in Latin America. From 2015 to 2020, digital’s share of total media ad spending in Latin America more than doubled from 18.0% to 39.1%. Given the current circumstances, this share should further improve in the years ahead.

Marketers have long turned to social media to hear and respond to what people are saying, gauge sentiment, and inform and support their team's marketing strategy. But the coronavirus pandemic has put fresh emphasis on the practice known as social listening.

During the coronavirus pandemic, many consumers have preferred to pay local businesses using traditional payment methods over contactless channels. According to May 2020 polling from Podium, the highest share of US internet users surveyed (42.9%) said they preferred using a credit card reader, with cash coming in second at 18.4%.

Few industries have been hit as hard by the coronavirus as travel. Recovery will be slow, with many sectors not returning to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2022. Some pandemic-related trends, like increased local “staycations,” may persist.

The pandemic has pushed many consumers to shift their shopping behaviors, with many now turning to their mobile device for their shopping needs.

Business and marketing plans conceived earlier in the year seem to be no longer suitable in a COVID-19 world.

The retail divide among top performers and the rest of the market has been amplified by the coronavirus pandemic.

Since stay-at-home orders were put in place, more adults in the US have significantly increased their alcohol purchases.

Total retail sales worldwide are expected to hit $23.358 trillion in 2020, down 5.7% from 2019—and nearly 12% below our pre-pandemic estimate of $26.459 trillion.

The pandemic has hit Spain hard, affecting all industries within the country, particularly retail.

eMarketer principal analyst Mark Dolliver, junior analyst Blake Droesch and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss whether cinemas can survive, TV streaming price hikes, Peloton's Roku app, whether TikTok will be banned in the US, Uber buying Postmates, why airplane food tastes so bad and more.

Fewer people in the US are using rideshare services during the pandemic. According to July 2020 data from CivicScience, 71% of respondents ages 18 to 24 said they have stopped using rideshare services.

Since its launch in 2017, Peace Out Skincare—known for its Acne Dot patches—has been rapidly expanding its business through an exclusive partnership with Sephora, as well as its own direct-to-consumer (D2C) business.

eMarketer analyst Ross Benes, forecasting analyst Eric Haggstrom and principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Andrew Lipsman discuss how the tech giants are coming for your TV. They then talk about why lululemon athletica bought connected fitness startup Mirror, why premium loyalty programs are in fashion and what happens when stay-at-home orders end.

If the coronavirus pandemic has produced any winners in the retail sector, digital merchants are among that number.

China is the largest digital market in the world, leading all countries in terms of ecommerce, mcommerce and social commerce. It’s also home to many of the largest ecommerce conglomerates, including Alibaba and JD.com, who are generating sales at a scale that far exceeds that of companies in the US—including Amazon.

After eMarketer's February 2020 forecast projected modest growth of 2.8% to $5.621 trillion in total US retail sales, the coronavirus pandemic then took the US economy by storm, causing closures, stay-at-home orders, and a decline in the demand of non-essential goods.