During the peak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis (March-April 2020) when many countries worldwide introduced lockdown measures, e-commerce share in total retail sales saw proportions that were not seen before. In the United Kingdom, where an already mature e-commerce market exists, e-commerce share saw as high as **** percent, before stabilizing in the subsequent periods. In the most current period (as of January 31, 2021), United Kingdom, United States and Canada were the leading countries where e-commerce had a higher share as a proportion of total retail, at **, **, and ** percent, respectively.

In 2020, a noticeable spike in online shopping habits had been recorded across Europe, with many consumers from different countries stating that they had started e-shopping more due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2021, most of the same countries saw an increase in the number of people who said they bought on the web more due to the crisis. In Spain, for example, more than half of surveyed consumers said they shopped online more often in 2021, an increase of about ***** percent compared to the previous year.

Home & garden, food & groceries, as well as sports & outdoors were the three e-commerce categories with the most significant growth in online traffic due to the coronavirus outbreak. The food & groceries online shopping segment went from an average of **** billion monthly visits in January 2020 to **** billion global site visits in June 2020 as consumers pivoted to e-grocery shopping in order to avoid crowded stores.

In the United States, the future shopping preferences of online luxury shoppers indicated that the intention of using product samples or virtual assistants after the COVID-19 pandemic would decrease. With the ease of restrictions, only 15 percent of shoppers would buy luxury products with a virtual assistant or live chat, nine percentage points lower than the share registered during the pandemic.

The restriction enforced during the coronavirus pandemic and the related supply chain disruption induced U.S. businesses to engage in online purchases more than before. Indeed, half of B2B buyers answering a survey carried out in 2021 stated so. Thanks to digital channels, purchasing processes became more streamlined according to 45 percent of respondents. The increased use of online purchase channels was registered both in the private and public sectors. In the United States, 48 percent of professionals working for the government planned to make more than 50% of purchases online in 2021

Suppliers’ online presence Although challenged by marketplaces and e-commerce platforms, suppliers’ websites are still the most relevant online touchpoints in B2B purchases. In 2021, over four in ten B2B professionals, believed suppliers’ portals and mobile applications to be more popular after the coronavirus pandemic.

What drives B2B sellers Since B2B buyers have a wide array of options to shop for their purchases, vendors need to plan accordingly. A U.S. survey unveiled their priorities when setting up their online sales business. About half of them valued easy-to-use and convenient platforms with user-oriented backend, while another 45 percent of sellers considered discoverability by new online customers an important factor.

When asked if the coronavirus crisis had an impact on the perception of e-commerce in late 2020, the vast majority of European e-commerce associations reported a positive public perception of e-commerce within their country. However, **** countries, including Spain and Austria, also stated that there has been a negative focus on major players within the e-commerce sector. Only *** country, namely Greece, stated that there had been no change in perception as a result of COVID-19 in 2020.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, only ***** percent of grocery retail sales involved e-commerce channels. During the peak of the emergency, the e-commerce share of grocery retail grew to *** percent, while a study showed that online shopping of grocery products is here to stay. Indeed, the current share of global e-commerce penetration was valued at **** percent.

Apparel was the e-commerce category with the highest online price increase in the United States from July 2020 to July 2021. In that period, clothing and other fashion items experienced an average price increase of more than 15 percent. Nonprescription drugs ranked second among 18 categories analyzed, with almost six percent of online price growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have brought a historic and dramatic transformation in consumer buying behavior. A July 2021 survey reports that e-commerce websites lead in post pandemic online purchase intention in the U.S., among other digital sales channels. Apparel and footwear is the category where consumers are most prone to buying from websites, at 21 percent of respondents. Online marketplaces ranked second, at 19 percent in the apparel and footwear segment. In Canada, consumers also wanted to keep buying apparel online once stores are permanently open.

The ongoing coronavirus crisis has severely impacted many industries. As of March 2020, the fastest declining e-commerce categories were luggage and suitcases, as well as briefcases, each having a decrease of ** percent year-over-year. With a variety of travel bans in place during the coronavirus, it is no surprise that any kind of travel-related purchases and bookings are on hold for the foreseeable future.

Once the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is over, some 45 percent of shoppers in Germany, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom (UK) said they would still do most of their shopping in physical stores. Roughly one in five shoppers planned to do the opposite. About a third of consumers in these countries are planning to be flexible on this front, alternating between channels depending on price, availability, and convenience.

Digital shopping in Africa increased since the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. According to an online survey conducted in 2020 and 2021, ** percent of consumers in Nigeria are shopping more online since the beginning of the pandemic. The health crisis led to increasing demand for e-commerce in Africa. Kenya and Ghana registered an increment of ** percent in online purchases. In South Africa, online shopping grew by ** percent. There, over half of consumers reported that they were buying more groceries and clothing items online.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a decrease in access to goods, as reported by ** percent of the survey respondents in May 12, 2020.

Originating in Wuhan, China, the novel coronavirus has spread globally and has hit the Nordic countries.

Retail platforms have undergone an unprecedented global traffic increase between January 2019 and June 2020, surpassing even holiday season traffic peaks. Overall, retail websites generated almost ** billion visits in June 2020, up from ***** billion global visits in January 2020. This is of course due to the global coronavirus pandemic which has forced millions of people to stay at home in order to stop the spread of the virus. Due to many shelter at home orders and a desire to avoid crowded stores in places where it is possible to shop, consumers have turned to the internet to procure everyday items such as groceries or toilet paper.

Online orders and deliveries in Italy increased significantly due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and the resulting lockdown. As the graph shows, during January and February, when the lockdown was not put in place yet, the increase in e-commerce deliveries was rather limited. In the following months, however, deliveries grew dramatically. April 2020 registered an increase of ***** percent compared to the same month of the previous year. In May 2020, after the restrictions were eased, the growth was not as impressive as in April, but e-commerce deliveries still rose by **** percent compared to May 2019.

During the peak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis (March-April 2020) when many countries worldwide went into lockdown mode, e-commerce share in total retail sales saw proportions that were not seen before. In the drug store segment, this share reached ** percent during the months when the cases and lockdown measures peaked, around March-April 2020. In the current period, e-commerce share of drug store sales is measured at ** percent.

In Sweden, over ** percent of the companies experienced an increase of e-commerce after the outbreak of COVID-19. Just above **** percent said that the sales remained unchanged, whereas no-one experienced a decrease in internet sales.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Fact and Figures page.

In 2022 nearly 50 percent of U.S. respondents from a survey on digital beauty shopping reported that they now buy more beauty products compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic. This figure is down 4 percent from the year before.

According to the survey about consumer behavior after ******** outbreak, about ** percent of respondents from Taiwan said they improved their skills in using online shopping platforms. About ** percent of respondents also said their ability of using mobile payment was not improved so far.

According to a survey from March to April 2020, online shopping became more popular among all age groups in Finland because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Younger people aged between 18 and 34 years shopped more often online compared to other age groups, and almost ** percent of them said that they increased online shopping significantly.

Online purchases of new products and services

Based on a consumer survey, ** percent of Finns said that they purchased new products and services online during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For first-time e-shoppers, daily essentials such as clothing, groceries, restaurant meals, or hygiene and beauty products, were some of the most wanted goods. One-fifth of the respondents bought clothes and accessories online for the first time, and ** percent of them bought groceries. Most Finnish consumers who shopped online because of the COVID-19 outbreak, stated that they will also continue doing so after the crisis. Indeed, customer retention rates were above ** percent in almost all product categories.

Domestic vs. foreign webstores

In June 2020, about ** percent of Finns estimated that they will favor domestic online stores after the COVID-19 pandemic or if the pandemic lasts long. Furthermore, one-third of consumers said that they will mostly use domestic online stores as before. However, many consumers simply preferred the most affordable option. Cheaper prices are the main motivator for most Finnish consumers to use foreign online stores, alongside with better product availability.