Coronavirus effects have radically altered the US retail and ecommerce landscape, with surprising changes in consumer behavior and category and retailer performance.

The US retail sector could take years to recover from the impact of the coronavirus, and the hit could be worse than that of the Great Recession. According to eMarketer’s latest forecast on US retail sales (which includes auto and fuel), total retail sales will drop by 10.5% this year, steeper than the 8.2% drop in 2009. Ecommerce is the only bright spot, jumping 18.0% this year, as Americans rely on Amazon and other online retailers for necessities.

More women are turning to resale sites, including The RealReal and Poshmark, as they continue to compare deals and make more of an effort to spend less.

Loyalty marketing goes beyond loyalty programs, but they are still an important part of the customer experience and a vital channel for keeping customers engaged and spending.

The retail ecommerce ecosystem in China is extremely diverse. While Alibaba and JD.com are the clear sales leaders, a handful of other players are holding their own, sometimes by carving out a niche market, be it Suning in consumer electronics or Mogujie in women’s apparel.

This year, we expect China’s total retail ecommerce sales will grow more than 30%, reaching nearly $2 trillion—the highest-grossing retail ecommerce market worldwide, according to our latest forecast. Behind China, the US retail ecommerce market will reach $600.63 billion in sales, growing nearly 15% year over year.

eMarketer's "Do You Have a Second?" is a mini-podcast that offers a quick hit of the latest digital data. Today, we’re talking about online returns for the holiday season, apparel discounting over the Thanksgiving shopping period and consumers' resolutions for the New Year.

eMarketer recently published several Amazon forecasts, including retail ecommerce sales, direct vs. marketplace sales, retail ecommerce sales by product category, Amazon Prime users and households, and Amazon smart speaker users.