With a hard Brexit looming, 2020 will be the peak of cross-border ecommerce penetration in the UK, according to the latest forecast from eMarketer, an Insider Intelligence company. This year, 22.8 million people in the UK will have made a cross-border ecommerce purchase, representing 46.0% of internet users and 50.2% of digital buyers.

Physical retail has suffered hugely under the weight of the coronavirus. Ecommerce has benefited to the tune of a 14.7% rise in sales this year, and digital habits are forming that will last beyond the pandemic.

When the UK government announced a nationwide lockdown for November, the impetus for retail holiday ecommerce shopping was ratcheted up another notch, given that Black Friday shopping falls within this period.

Digital retail will have a huge impact on UK shopper trends in the coming holiday season. This year, ecommerce will account for nearly a third of all holiday spending, its largest share to date. Brick-and- mortar shopping, meanwhile, remains on the precipice.

The UK is something of a global leader when it comes to retail ecommerce. As a proportion of total retail sales, only China will trump the UK in ecommerce sales penetration this year (41.2% versus 30.9%, respectively). The UK’s fulfillment and delivery infrastructure is, as one would expect, quite mature.

Massive delays in supply chains and delivery fulfillment at the UK border led many EU-based brands to temporarily stop selling into the UK through major marketplaces such as Amazon, to avoid being suspended from the platforms over fulfillment issues. Similarly, UK-based brands selling into Europe have temporarily paused their cross-border shipping.

Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB UK). Lotame. Partnerize. Rakuten Advertising.

From midnight on March 23, the UK government enforced the closure of nonessential retail stores in the UK as part of strict lockdown measures. This shuttering was only lifted on June 15. During those intervening 12 weeks, UK consumers wanting to purchase anything other than groceries or medications could not do so in-store.

Lower prices for most goods also pull shoppers back to Amazon—a key consideration for households feeling a financial pinch. Many smaller retailers are now locked into selling via Amazon, for better or worse. That trend seems to be most pronounced in Italy and Spain, where ecommerce had lagged behind markets such as France, Germany, and the UK.

According to the November 2020 Merkle research, 61% of UK and US executives said they would be increasing their investment in data clean rooms. The same survey found 23% had “prioritized” data clean rooms as a result of privacy-related changes.