Retail’s Challenges And Opportunities Amid The Pandemic

Retail Challenges, Opportunities Amid Pandemic

Retail’s recovery continues along its inconsistent path, as new reports suggest that upstream ordering challenges will begin to negatively impact suppliers and intermediaries as the pandemic rages on in the United States. In consumer behavior, “convenience shifters” have emerged as a digital-first group itching to get outside. And in digital commerce, livestreaming has brought in hundreds of millions in sales during the 618 festival in China. All this, Today in Data.

Data:

$449.5M: Sales volume that livestream shopping generated during the 618 festival.

412M: Number of viewers who watched livestreams on June 18, per an analysis of 806,000 chat rooms.

57.7%: Amount by which the retail sector’s Q1 operating income fell compared to 2019.

39.3%: Share of convenience shifters who are “very” or “extremely interested” in bringing the “normal” back.

4.8M: Number of new jobs added in June, per the most recent report.