Two and a half years after the start of the pandemic, it is possible to analyze the effects of what could be interpreted as the most extraordinary experiment in the modern age of retail. The perfect scenario for online commerce was created: physical stores closed and the only way to buy was through the internet.
From the C&W Research & Insight department, we break down the set of products that consumers bought online and we have created the basket of physical goods (CdBF) that were purchased online to follow their evolution since the outbreak of the pandemic.
With the latest data published (first quarter of 2022), the level of purchases of physical goods through electronic commerce seems to have stabilized and, in fact, there have been slight decreases:
The decrease in the purchase of goods over the Internet is not explained by a decrease in the volume of retail trade in general. As seen in the evolution of retail trade in Spain, it increased in the last quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.
The decrease in goods purchased online is due to a return to physical retail by consumers. The Shopping Centers have passed the most important stress test in their history in Spain: the impact of the pandemic with its confinements, mobility restrictions and respective quarantines.
