As many Americans continue to stay at home, it's no surprise that consumers spent heavily on ecommerce: In Q2 2020, US retail ecommerce sales grew by almost a third (31.8%) from the previous quarter, or 44.5% year over year.

The coronavirus pandemic is pushing consumers to buy essential products digitally, rapidly accelerating the development of the online grocery industry in the US.

Many consumers’ shopping behaviors have moved online in recent months, and that trend is likely to continue through the holiday shopping season.

Social distancing and stay-at-home measures have upended the shopping habits of US consumers across generations, including older cohorts.

UK consumers’ shopping habits have undergone a change that is unlikely to be reversed. According to our latest forecast, nonecommerce retail sales will drop by 16.0% this year, followed by a recovery in 2021. However, sales will never reach pre-pandemic levels.

Total retail sales worldwide are expected to hit $23.358 trillion in 2020, down 5.7% from 2019—and nearly 12% below our pre-pandemic estimate of $26.459 trillion.

If the coronavirus pandemic has produced any winners in the retail sector, digital merchants are among that number.

China is the largest digital market in the world, leading all countries in terms of ecommerce, mcommerce and social commerce. It’s also home to many of the largest ecommerce conglomerates, including Alibaba and JD.com, who are generating sales at a scale that far exceeds that of companies in the US—including Amazon.

After eMarketer's February 2020 forecast projected modest growth of 2.8% to $5.621 trillion in total US retail sales, the coronavirus pandemic then took the US economy by storm, causing closures, stay-at-home orders, and a decline in the demand of non-essential goods.

As lockdowns slowly lift in the US, retailers face a changed shopping landscape. With lingering fears over renewed outbreaks, many consumers are wary of returning to stores.

As the coronavirus pandemic leaves many fearing for their health and jobs, consumers are shifting their time and money toward things with immediate utility in daily life. But they're not entirely closed off to companies with products that don't fall under that category — brands can still prove their value during the crisis by providing help to others.

Confined to their homes, consumers now have more than the impetus of convenience to shop online. It’s become necessity for many people—a condition that will likely boost ecommerce habits for years to come. Nearly four in five adults (79%) in Canada spent 20% or less of their total shopping budget online prior to COVID-19, according to a Forum Research poll in April 2020.

Weeks after China lifted its lockdown restrictions placed months ago to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, there’s a sliver of hope for the country’s retail sector.

Grocery companies—and more specifically their systems and services—have really been put to the test amid the pandemic. Many grocers are having trouble keeping items on the shelves. And even the most prepared are encountering issues with supply chain logistics.

The term "Cyber Monday" was first introduced to the retail world in 2005 via a press release from Shop.org. What is now the moniker of one of the biggest shopping holidays of the year was coined by members of the organization and its then-executive director Scott Silverman.

Growth of retail sales in China is declining, due to economic and geopolitical challenges, and will not overtake the US until 2021. But retail ecommerce has continued to flourish in some surprising ways under these current circumstances.

According to a March 2019 survey from consumer intelligence platform Toluna, more than one in four US internet users would be motivated to consider trying a new direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand if they were offered a free trial period.

Smartphone retail mcommerce sales will make up 34% of all US ecommerce sales this year, reaching $203.94 billion. While desktop purchases still dominate—amounting to $331.85 billion in 2019—they are growing at a rate of just 5.0%.

Food and beverage, personal care and auto parts products have traditionally lagged behind in ecommerce, but when you look more closely, it’s easy to see significant growth potential.