Global retail stares at $2.1 trillion loss

New Delhi: With the Covid-10 pandemic ravaging several industries amid poor consumer spending, global retail sales in 2020 will decline by an average of 9.6 per cent, resulting in a loss of $2.1 trillion and it will take four years for retailers to overtake pre-pandemic levels, a new Forrester report said on Tuesday.

The impact on India and Japan is to be severe due to the strict lockdowns, the declaration of a State of emergency in Japan, and the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics. The likelihood is that the epidemic will last seven months, and from 2021 retail categories, that have declined by more than 10 per cent, will only bounce back to 90 per cent of pre-pandemic spend. In the worst-case scenario, lost online sales could reach $510 billion, and even in the best case, retailers will lose $244 billion in online sales, the report mentioned.

"Covid–19 is significantly impacting the global retail landscape. Retail categories like grocery and essential consumables are performing well, while other categories like fashion, beauty, and cosmetics are seeing a marked decline in consumer spend," said Michael O'Grady, Principal Forecast Analyst at Forrester.