Retail sales have enjoyed very healthy years during the first two decades of the 21st Century in spite of the housing bubble which created an economic collapse in 2008.
Now during the coronavirus crisis, the non-essential retail store was required to close by the government.
The global retail industry is worth over 26 trillion
STATISTICS – FACT
Global retail sales data
Retail sales have grown at a steady pace for over the last two decades at the exception of the three hardest years during the financial crisis of 2008. Just alone in 2020, the global retail industry was worth over 26 trillion.
Ecommerce which to many of us seems like where we buy almost everything seems to still have a long way to reach physical store sales. As its global sales annually reached just $4 trillion as opposed to $26trillion made by brick and mortar shops.
Coronavirus impact on retail industry in 2020
Obviously the retail industry was one of the most affected during the coronavirus pandemic early this year. Many brick and mortar retailers were forced to shut down for several months.
However, this closure has had rebound on the industry which reported a rebounded in sales in May this years after almost two months with stores being very quiet and experiencing a drop in traffic of at least 30%.
Online sales reported a disproportionate growth of 33%
STATISTICS – FACT
Food stores enjoyed a massive growth during the first two months of lockdown but even though physical stores were closed, internet sales experienced a massive boom.
Retail sales volumes partly rebounded in May 2020 with an increase of 12.0%
STATISTICS – FACT
Online sales have increased thanks to the lockdown, reporting sales as never seen before. This online bonanza has helped many companies survived this pandemic crisis by boosting their total sales volume.
Global retail sales growth
As you can see in the chart above, 2017 was a good year for retailers. Right after 2017, most years remained pretty stable reporting a 4% growth per year.
Global warming and the impact of communism on the planet might ultimately influence retail sales in the future as scientist reported the current growth at all cost economic system is not sustainable in the long term.
However, recycling and a switch in the current consumerism trends might support a retail transition to a more planet-friendly economy.
Largest retailers by sales volume
As you can see on the chart above, Walmart dominates in the retail world with its sales surpassing the astronomic figure of over $500 billion a year globally. At the top of the list, giants such as Amazon and Costco followed Walmart.
All these leading retailers belong to the groceries and general sales kind of shops where groceries are sold along with small sections of sporting goods, electronics and toys among several others.
Latest official sales report: May 2020
The latest official sales report released by the Office for National Statistics was not as negative as one could expect considering the times we are running into. As you can see most retailers experienced a sudden drop in sales due to the restrictions imposed by the government which forced non-essential shops to close.
Online sales massive growth compensate physician store closures
The retail sales data shows most eCommerce shops enjoyed a huge bonanza due to the quarantine which forced us to stay at home for several months and some of its restrictions are still in force such as social distancing.
As you can see as much as retail sales dropped online sales grew with an increase of almost 3 times more than during any previous month over a period of 12 months.
Retail Index Internet Sales
Below you can see how much eCommerce represent within the total retail sales by country. The retail sales data shows that there is a constant growth within the retail market for eCommerce which seems not to have a stop any time soon.
Total retail sales data in the United Kingdom since 2015
Online retail sales vs physical store sales
E-commerce growth in the United States
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Sources
- ONS
- Statista
- Census Bureau
- Kantar
