Online Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - Italy  

“The COVID-19 outbreak has the potential to turbo-charge the online retailing industry in Italy, though this depends on the customer’s experience of individual retailers’ services. Amazon is likely to have been a big winner due to its already high levels of penetration and its focus on non-food segments, with non-food retailers most impacted by the outbreak. But – mainly for cultural reasons – the Italian market remains underdeveloped relative to other major European nations.”

– Michael Oliver, Senior Retail Analyst

Online Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - France  

“COVID-19 has accelerated and brought forward existing trends in the French online retail sector, such as home delivery of groceries, and has expanded participation to include many new customers. The digital world has certainly worked to ease confinement; helping people to feed themselves, work remotely and stay in touch with loved ones. Grocery retailers responded promptly with initiatives to boost access to online shopping and as the high street struggles to adjust to the ‘next normal’, e-commerce will be of paramount importance for all retailers.”

– Natalie Macmillan, Senior European Retail Analyst

• Online Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - Spain  
  Online Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - Spain

  

  “The online grocery sector in Spain is still in its infancy and the country’s grocers were quickly overwhelmed by the unprecedented demand during the country’s strict COVID-19 lockdown. With new online shopping behaviours expected to be here to stay e-commerce development in the food sector is likely to accelerate as retailers seek to offer this profitably. The looming recession is likely to be severe and we can expect many consumers to rein in their spending, making life tough for all retailers. Those that sell online and get the offer and experience right, will be well placed to be amongst the winners.”– Natalie Macmillan, Senior European Retail Analyst
• Online Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - Europe  
  Online Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - Europe

  

  “Online remains one of the fastest-growing sectors in retailing, with most markets seeing sales rise in double-digits every year. In Europe, countries such as Germany and the UK are at the most developed end of the spectrum, compared to others like Spain and Italy. Although shopping habits vary considerably around Europe for a variety of reasons, online shopping continues to gain popularity and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a positive effect in terms of accelerating growth and encouraging consumers to shop online more often or even for the first time, creating a positive outlook for the future.”– Armando Falcao, European Retail Analyst
• Ethical Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK  
  Ethical Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK

  

  “The media and high-profile events have all helped to raise consumer awareness regarding ethical standards for retailers. This has been even more prominent during COVID-19, with many headlines covering how retailers have treated staff during the pandemic. Whereas the focus previously was on environmental solutions, consumers now have an increased desire to shop with retailers that have ethical people policies. With so many conflicting messages and many also viewing ethical shopping as an expensive alternative, retailers need to start doing a better job when it comes to educating consumers about how they can shop ethically, even on a budget.”
• Social Commerce - China  
  Social Commerce - China

  

  “Social commerce has evolved quickly during the past few years. Increasingly more social media platforms have jumped on the bandwagon officially by incorporating the livestreaming and shopping function directly into the platform so that consumers don’t have to be redirected to e-commerce platforms to make the final purchase. The outbreak of COVID-19 and thriving livestreaming commerce have also led social commerce to achieve new levels of consumer attention. Nevertheless, from consumers’ point of view, they are much less likely to associate the attributes such as good quality, delivery, and after-sales services with social commerce platforms like Pinduoduo and WeChat commerce. Social commerce could better leverage the above-mentioned attributes to compete against their direct competitors in traditional e-commerce industries to reinforce their leading position in winning consumers’ favour.”
• Bathroom and Bathroom Accessories: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK  
  Bathroom and Bathroom Accessories: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK

  

  “The bathroom furniture and accessories market has recently suffered from a slowdown in the UK economy and stagnant property transactions. Despite COVID-19 bringing further difficulties for the market, opportunities exist with the online channel growing in importance with traditional retailers well placed to learn from pureplay online specialists who currently dominate this channel.”
• Customer Loyalty: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK  
  Customer Loyalty: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK

  

  “As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers are facing unprecedented challenges and customer loyalty has become more important than ever before. Retailers’ responses to such challenges will be remembered for years to come, and there are opportunities to use loyalty and subscription schemes to strengthen brand image and increase loyalty for those that support their customers and staff during the crisis, while quickly adapting to the new circumstances.”
• Footwear Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK  
  Footwear Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK

  

  “The footwear sector picked up in 2019 after a tough 2018. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 will have a significant and lasting impact on the sector. The category was previously geared towards the in-store experience, but since lockdown many of the leading retailers have announced significant numbers of store closures. Instead, the focus has moved to upping the online offering and recreating some of the in-store experience in a virtual setting. Demand for branded and sports footwear is likely to pick up as people turn to well-known products in times of uncertainty, but the mid-market segment will have to adapt and show a true point of differentiation to stay relevant.”– Chana Baram, Senior Retail Analyst
• Furniture Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK  
  Furniture Retailing: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK

  

  “COVID-19 will have a profound impact on the furniture market, both in the loss of sales in 2020, and in the far-reaching legacy impact of changing shopping behaviours. There are opportunities in this landscape, however, not least in the boost to office furniture with increased working from home, while the redirection of demand online is sure to open avenues of growth for online-only and well-equipped multichannel retailers.”– Marco Amasanti, Retail Analyst
• UK Retail Briefing: Inc Impact of COVID-19  
  UK Retail Briefing: Inc Impact of COVID-19

  

  “Although footfall remained below pre-coronavirus levels in June, UK retail sales increased by 1.5% from June 2019 (ONS), as consumers made the most of their occasional shopping trips. Nevertheless, whilst non-essential retailers have been allowed to reopen since 15th June, only about half of shops have resumed activities and footfall remains low. With England enforcing the use of face coverings in shops and supermarkets from 24th July, it will be interesting to see how this will affect consumption in-store and which opportunities this might bring for retailers to explore.”– Armando Falcao, European Retail Analyst, 24th July 2020
• European Retail Briefing: Inc Impact of COVID-19  
  European Retail Briefing: Inc Impact of COVID-19

  

  “The leading European economies continue to progress on their path back to ‘normality’ at different paces, with countries like Germany leading the way while others like Spain continue to enforce new restrictions in certain areas. Consumers remain concerned about the risk of being exposed to the virus, which reflects on how uncomfortable many of them feel to resume certain out of the home activities such as going to the cinema, visiting a restaurant and going to the gym. Nevertheless, the pandemic continues to bring opportunities for those willing to adapt and explore different ways of engaging with consumers while ensuring their safety.”– Armando Falcao, European Retail Analyst, 24th July 2020
• Convenience Stores: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK  
  Convenience Stores: Inc Impact of COVID-19 - UK

  

  “The shift to localised shopping during the peak of COVID-19 will have benefited the convenience sector, driving larger-basket demand and sales as consumers necessarily shopped more in their local communities. Longer term the importance of c-stores within these communities will only be reinforced, presenting opportunities for convenience retailers to tap into.”– Nick Carroll, Associate Director of Retail Research