At the start of the pandemic there was massive store aversion and closings. The percentage of nonstore retail sales to overall retail sales surged to 34.75% from roughly 25.75%.
By June of 2020 the percentage fell back to the 29% level where it has remained ever since.
I calculate the percentage based on what reasonably can be purchased online. That excludes gasoline and fast food.
Although one can buy some food items online people do not normally shop that way. The same applies to autos. Nonstore food retailers (cheese shops, fruit shops, steaks etc., are part of nonstore retailers).
Why go to the store when it easy to have things delivered in 1 day from Amazon?
That’s what a larger group of people have decided. As a result, nonstore sales are about 3 percentage points higher than they were pre-pandemic.
Advance Retail Sales Major Categories
Nonstore Retailers and Motor Vehicles were the two big winners with sales well above pre-pandemic levels. Other groups just recently caught up.
Mish
