Despite the shifting landscape of retail in the age of the coronavirus, ecommerce spending continues to outperform its pre-pandemic pace.
In fact, during the week ending July 5, online spending in Europe was up 85% compared to early March, according to Signifyd’s Ecommerce Pulse data. We use early March as a benchmark because it was just before the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic.
Online shopping naturally took off once stay-at-home orders were in place and non-essential brick-and-mortar stores closed their doors to shoppers. But online sales remain strong, now four months into the health crisis, and weeks after many stores reopened, including in the UK.
Online spending in Europe was up 40% week over week, according to Signifyd’s Pulse data. Nearly all of the retail verticals tracked by the Pulse did their part to push online spending skyward.
The increase in ecommerce sales is some good news for retailers, who remain concerned about the outlook for their industry as a whole. The Guardian recently described retailers as “gloomy” about the chances of a quick recovery from the COVID-19 lockdown.
Citing the Confederation of British Industry, the publication said that only 21% of retailers expected July 2020 to be a better month than July 2019. Conversely, 68% of retailers said they expected lower July sales. Many also expressed concern that they’d have trouble getting staff back to work if schools don’t open, meaning children will require supervision at home during the day.
Ecommerce sales hit a trough in mid-June, coinciding with the opening up of brick-and-mortar stores in England and elsewhere, but they appear to have shaken that off as we move into July.
A number of verticals remain well above their pre-pandemic sales levels. Auto, Parts & Tires sales are up 124% roughly since the pandemic was declared, despite slipping 36% week over week. Home Goods & Decor is up 181% compared to the last week of February, even though sales fell 2% week over week.
For its part, the Grocery & Household Goods category is seeing sales 61% higher than pre-pandemic days and Leisure & Outdoor sales are up 42%.
Latest posts
