Store Shopping

Before the pandemic, on-line sales accounted for about 14.25% of all retail sales. During the lockdown of March/April 2020, the percentage unsurprisingly jumped to 20.2%. Since, it has steadily fallen to 16.5% by 6/20, 15.9% by 3/21, and 14.9% through 12/21. The current on-line sales level is now below what the pre-covid growth trend would have suggested. This implies that writing obituaries for brick-and-mortar stores is quite premature.