Article by Jim Davis
Source: www.emarketer.com, April 2021
Amid the carnage of bankruptcies, store closures, and massive layoffs in 2020, some retail companies actually fared very well. Adjustments to supply chains, product and service bundles, stocking and inventory, and customer service have been the keys to success for big-box retailers like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. Others, such as Apple, lululemon athletica, Nike, and Starbucks, are focusing on innovating and modifying store experiences through digital integration, frictionless shopping, and atmospherics modified for a “new normal” of social distancing and sanitization.
We forecast that sales growth for US retail overall will begin to recover in 2021, rising by 3.8% year over year to $5.856 trillion. On the heels of an outsize 33.6% increase in 2020, ecommerce sales will moderate to 13.7% growth this year. Brick-and-mortar retail sales will rebound from a 0.2% decline in 2020 to a 2.2% gain in 2021.