With over a quarter of shoppers now planning to spend more online after the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, retailers with a limited (or no) online proposition must consider investment in order to remain competitive, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Thomas Brereton, Retail Analyst at GlobalData, offers his view:

“Almost all non-food physical retailers in the UK have suffered immensely from the closure of stores, and will be eagerly awaiting government updates on plans to reopen at the start of June (at the earliest).

“But COVID-19 is drawing a permanent scar on the landscape of UK retail, and one that easing restrictions will not heal. 42.6% of UK shoppers are spending more than usual online at the moment (predominantly on food, household, clothing and entertainment); however, of those, 61.0% plan to keep doing so after the pandemic, driven by the convenience home delivery offers or the fear of travelling to busy shopping locations. And as the online channel grows, pressure will mount on offline retailers to retain sales – for some players, to fatal levels.”

*Data taken from GlobalData’s survey of 2,000 nationally representative UK respondents conducted in May 2020.