Ecommerce Statistics: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdowns on Retail and Online

The impact of the pandemic has definitely made both winners and losers this year. While small retailers were forced to close their doors, consumers worried about COVID-19 were driven to either order online or visit their local big-box retailer. The pandemic and associated government restrictions have disrupted the entire industry and we’ll most likely see the ripple effects for years to come.

The pandemic accelerated consumer behavior. Many consumers were skeptical and continued to hesitate to take their business online… but any concerns of online shopping quickly evaporated under the fear of being exposed to COVID-19.

The rapid growth of e-commerce is perhaps the only news of 2020 that isn’t shocking. With the coronavirus pandemic keeping most of us indoors, 60% of our interactions with companies are now online. In the first 10 days of November alone, US consumers have already spent $21.7 billion online – that’s a 21% increase year-over-year.

Maura Monaghan, Ecommerce Statistics and Trends for 2020: The Impact of COVID & The Rise of New Tech

My firm has been working with investors that are seeing the devastation first-hand. Retailers who focused their marketing attention on driving retail foot traffic took an immediate backseat to the competitors who offered a digital-first e-commerce experience. Many of them are out of business.

There’s no doubt that ecommerce trends have enabled healthy growth for those businesses that either pivoted quickly or had already invested heavily in their digital transformation.

Online vs In-Store Sales By Industry

• Health and Beauty is predicted to be up online by 23% vs -8.2% in-store.
• Consumer Electronics is predicted to be up online by 28% vs -26.3% in-store.
• Fashion is predicted to be up online by 19% vs -33.7% in-store.
• Home Furnishings is predicted to be up online by 16% vs -15.2% in-store.

Ecommerce sales were undoubtedly on the rise before coronavirus caused them to skyrocket this year, but now the future is decidedly digital. There’s no telling for sure what we can expect after the coronavirus pandemic, or when that day will come – but e-commerce statistics from both before and during the COVID-19 outbreak suggest that online shopping is where our attention should be as we try to look ahead.

Maura Monaghan, Ecommerce Statistics and Trends for 2020: The Impact of COVID & The Rise of New Tech

This infographic from WebsiteBuilderExpert details the impact of e-commerce sales during the Coronavirus Pandemic, what non-essentials drove the most purchases, how consumers plan to shop post-pandemic, regional differences in consumer behavior, the impact of devices, as well as how new technology is impacting online purchase behavior.

There are also some specifics on how United States and UK consumers shopped for Black Friday.

Ecommerce Statistics and Trends Infographic for 2020