Overall retail sales in the U.S. are expected to decline 10.5% in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic , according to a report by eMarketer as reported by Chain Store Age.  A sharp divergence between brick and mortar sales and ecommerce is emerging, with online sales expected to rise 18% and offline sales expected to decline 14%, according to the report. Offline sales may take up to five years to return to pre-pandemic levels, the report predicts, and despite increases in e-commerce sales, total retail sales will also take years to recover.

Big increases in sales of groceries and health, personal care and beauty are expected to drive the increases in ecommerce sales.  New behaviors like "click-and-collect" (used by many comic and game stores during shutdowns and partial re-openings) have grown dramatically, according to the report.