UK retail keeps struggling as consumers turn towards e-commerce

The coronavirus lockdown was not kind to the UK retail sector and despite the re-opening of shops, things are not really getting better. In fact, since most consumers opted for online shopping solutions, many physical stores are having to close down or take the help of administrators.

The Office for National Statistics revealed data which shows that transactions processed on the Web, in comparison to offline, grew exponentially when the country when into lockdown in May. This sector reached its peak, at 32.8%, in May and then slowly started to decrease. In early June, the high streets began a slow phased re-opening. This was some good news for shop owners. Nonetheless, online shopping still accounted for 28.1% of retail sales.

According to experts, the UK e-commerce sector, after getting a boost from the pandemic, will keep growing. Numbers from the retail insights firm Edge by Ascential show that by adding £5.3 billion (about $7 billion) in sales in 2020, the total market value volume will be £78.9 billion (approximately $105 billion). Before the pandemic, the original forecast for this year was only £73.6 billion (around $98 billion).

The firm advances that one major winner of this growth is going to be Amazon, followed by grocery giants like Tesco, Sainsbury and Walmart. 



E-commerce will keep growing © Royalty-free image

 

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