The 2020 US holiday season, set amid the backdrop of a pandemic-driven consumer economy, will see an unprecedented shift to ecommerce.

In a difficult year for retail sales overall, the US retail industry will remain the largest spender on digital advertising among all verticals, despite a huge deceleration in growth.

Business Insider Intelligence research analyst Daniel Keyes and eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Andrew Lipsman discuss how Amazon tripled its revenues during an economic recession. They then talk about how Pinterest posted such strong Q3 growth, Walmart converting some stores into ecommerce labs, and Under Armour selling its smartphone app MyFitnessPal.

Marketers will spend $17.37 billion on advertising on ecommerce sites and apps this year, according to eMarketer’s first-ever forecast of ecommerce channel ad spending. Ad spending on ecommerce properties will be up 38.8% from 2019—an acceleration of spending growth, thanks to the pandemic. By the end of this year, ecommerce channel advertising will represent 12.2% of US digital ad spend.

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.

eMarketer is pleased to moderate a Tech-Talk Webinar featuring Zenreach's John Kelly, CEO, and Robert Cornell, vice president of sales. They will discuss how brick-and-mortar retailers can use data collection to build customer profiles, track subsequent visits and past purchases, and design retargeting campaigns.

The pandemic has accelerated ecommerce growth in the US this year, with online sales reaching a level not previously expected until 2022. In our Q3 US retail forecast, the top 10 retailers by ecommerce sales will tighten their grip on the retail market.

The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically altered the US retail and ecommerce landscape, with varying impacts in retail category growth.

Global retail ecommerce sales will decelerate to a 16.5% growth rate in 2020. Even as consumers transitioned en masse to ecommerce during the pandemic, the drag caused by multiple recessions internationally has reduced the overall outlook.

Retailers are bracing for a softer holiday season due to the pandemic. They will see, however, a major shift to ecommerce this holiday season.

Over the past few months, retailers have experienced an ecommerce boost as a result of the pandemic and overall change in consumer shopping behavior.

Amazon’s net US digital ad revenues will rise by 41.0% this year as consumers shift dramatically to more ecommerce shopping and advertisers pay to get in front of shoppers at their leading destination.

This report looks at the impact the coronavirus will have on total retail and ecommerce sales in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, as well as its effect on consumer spending on essential vs. nonessential goods and services.

The CPG industry will increase its investments in digital advertising this year as strong sales of essential goods and personal care products—particularly on ecommerce platforms—gave advertisers reasons to keep spending during the pandemic.

Ecommerce channel advertising is having a big year, with eMarketer forecasting accelerated growth for 2020. Profitero CEO Bryan Wiener joins eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin to discuss consumers' massive shift to ecommerce, how it's benefited the ad businesses of Amazon and other marketplaces, and what online sellers should consider as they strategize for Q4 and beyond.

Prior to the pandemic, we expected search ad spending to grow by 14.4% this year as part of a trend of gradually slowing growth from 2018 through the end of our forecast period in 2024. When the pandemic upended those expectations, we revised our outlook in anticipation of a virtual halt to travel industry search spending. But as more information has come in throughout the summer and early fall about the pace of consumer ecommerce spending, we have again updated our estimates of search ad spending in 2020—this time, in a positive direction.

Amid 2020’s grim retail environment, ecommerce stands out as a bright spot. By now, the story is well known: US buyers have turned to online retailers like Amazon and Walmart in record numbers, mostly to avoid shopping in crowded places or because their local stores were closed.

A majority share of consumers are now taking to marketplaces first when shopping online. According an August 2020 survey from ecommerce ad agency ChannelAdvisor conducted by Dynata, 53% of US adults said they began product searches at Amazon when planning to make a digital purchase.

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.

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.

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.

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.