Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Jewish Business News

Business

Retailers Face Mass Extinction in Pandemic Fallout

The temporary freeze in consumer spending, as well as the gradual shift to online shopping accelerated by stay-at-home orders, could turn out to be the final nail in the coffin for many struggling retailers

Retailers Face Mass Extinction in Pandemic Fallout

While overall retail sales in the United States have rebounded relatively quickly following an unprecedented dip due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some retail categories are still trailing 2019 sales levels by a significant margin halfway through 2020. Sales of clothing and accessories stores for example have been almost 40 percent lower in the first six months of 2020 compared to the previous year, with electronics retailers and bookstores also heavily hit by the pandemic.

The temporary freeze in consumer spending as well as the gradual shift to online shopping accelerated by stay-at-home orders could turn out to be the final nail in the coffin for many struggling retailers. According to estimates from Coresight Research, a market intelligence company focusing on the retail industry, retail store closures could spike this year, with the company’s latest forecast predicting 20,000 to 25,000 stores to shutter this year.

Please help us out :
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at office@jewishbusinessnews.com.
Thank you.

Infographic: Retailers Face Mass Extinction in Pandemic Fallout | Statista You will find more infographics at Statista

 

U.S. Retail Sales Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels

Following an unprecedented plunge in April and a sharp rebound in May, U.S. retail sales continued to recover from the historic slump brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in June and July. According to advance estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week, total retail and food services sales amounted to $536 billion last month, up 1.2 percent over June and 2.7 percent over last year’s July figure. The latest increase puts retail sales back on its pre-pandemic trajectory, which is surprising considering the sharp uptick in new cases in July.

Due to the widespread lockdown instated to contain the spread of COVID-19, retail sales had plunged 14.7 percent in April, following an already unprecedented 8.2 percent drop in March. To put this in perspective, the highest drop prior to March 2020 had occurred in November 2008, when retail sales declined by less than 4 percent at the height of the financial crisis. As the following chart shows, retail sales have very rarely dipped significantly in the past, with the financial crisis being the most notable exception of the past three decades.

The latest rebound was led by those stores hit hardest by the shutdown in the first place, with clothing store sales up 110 percent over May and other specialty stores also seeing double-digit increases in sales. While the quick bounce back in consumer spending is certainly encouraging, it needs to be noted that spending levels are still below pre-crisis levels for many retailers. Clothing store sales were still 21 percent below last year’s level in July for example, while food services and drinking places trailed last 2019 sales by 19 percent last month.

Infographic: U.S. Retail Sales Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels | Statista You will find more infographics at Statista

Newsletter



Advertisement

You May Also Like

World News

In the 15th Nov 2015 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:   ·         A new Israeli treatment brings hope to relapsed leukemia...

Entertainment

The Movie The Professional is what made Natalie Portman a Lolita.

Travel

After two decades without a rating system in Israel, at the end of 2012 an international tender for hotel rating was published.  Invited to place bids...

VC, Investments

You may not become a millionaire, but there is a lot to learn from George Soros.