Retail Is ‘Scrambling’ To Keep Up With Accelerated Disruption In The COVID-19 Era

COVID-19 brought a whole host of unforeseen changes to the retail industry. Among them: A lengthy and unprecedented closure period for nonessential retailers. New health protocols. Masks. But the pandemic has also acted as a hyper accelerant on forces that have been reshaping retail for years.  Change is moving through the retail industry like a “wildfire” as the COVID-19 pandemic speeds up a transformation that began well before this year, according to a recent report from Moody’s retail analyst team. The analysts wrote that the online shopping surge, sparked by the pandemic, is “forever changing consumer habits,” with the analysts projecting online sales to “shoot above” 25% of all retail sales over the next five years. Read more at Retail Dive.