US Store Closures: More Retailers Shift to E-Commerce at the Expense of Stores

What's Inside

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the shift of significant additional sales to the online channel this year, and retailers have had to pivot and accelerate their adoption of e-commerce.

In this report, we discuss how retailers are rethinking their brick-and-mortar store presence over the longer term, covering the following key topics:

• The refocus by retailers and brand owners to e-commerce—with examples of this shift from Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Estée Lauder and Microsoft
• The changing role of the physical store as part of omnichannel fulfillment—including the adoption of BOPIS and curbside pickup as well as conversion to dark stores
• Implications for retailers and real estate firms of the shift to e-commerce at the expense of stores

Another result of the “mask economy” due to Covid-19 is that US retailers are refocusing on product over experiences—a reversal of the previous trend toward experiential retail. Click here to read our separate report on this topic.

Click here to read our US Store Closures 2020 Outlook.

Click here to read Coresight Research’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, and visit our Coronavirus Tracker for more information on temporary store closures and key developments.