Reasons to Read

We explore the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on US e-commerce. We present our trend analysis and insights into the online channel’s development in the second quarter of 2020, covering the following:

• E-commerce penetration—year-over-year change and as a share of total retail sales

• Online retail sales by segment, sector and category (nonstore retailers versus store-based retailers)

• The surge in grocery demand

• Consumers’ expectations for retaining changed shopping habits—with data from Coresight Research proprietary surveys

• Selected retailers’ e-commerce sales growth—including Amazon, Best Buy, L Brands, Kohl’s and VF Corportation.

• Demand for collection services—including BOPIS and curbside pickup

• The impacts of an early holiday shopping season and postponed Amazon Prime Day

This report discusses three post-crisis US e-commerce trends across the following themes:

1 Investment in digital business

2 Omnichannel capabilities

3 Drones and autonomous vehicles/robots

The appendix comprises selected US brands and retailers’ outlooks on fulfillment and experiential e-commerce, including Amazon, NIKE, Nordstrom and Target.

Read our other Post-Crisis Outlook reports on the US apparel retail sector and US department stores.