Online Retail Is Sucking Market Share From Traditional Retail At Unheard Of Levels

The environment for traditional retailers may be much more troubled than Wall Street thinks, according to Bespoke Investment Group. The firm is out with a new report which shows online retailers are “sucking share” from traditional retailers at an “incredible” rate. “It’s like nothing we’ve really seen before,” said the firm’s co-founder Paul Hickey recently on CNBC‘s “Trading Nation.” “A third of the growth in retail sales over the last 16 months has been in online sales. The group itself only accounts for ten percent of sales. So it’s just taking in dollars at a much faster rate.” In the government’s latest monthly retail sales report that came out Friday, Hickey points out online sales showed their 22nd straight month of gains. To put it in context, he says the longest win streak prior to this for online sales was the electronics and appliances sector during the last housing peak. It clocked in at 13 months in a row. “This is unheard of, the levels we’ve seen,” added Hickey. “We’re just seeing online retail take share from just about every sector. Only food and restaurants are one of the few sectors which doesn’t see that.” Read more at CNBC.