John Harmon, Senior Aanalyst at Coresight Research in a recent webinar hosted by Planalytics revealed around 25,000 retail stores may close this year, twice the number as last year, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to have an impact on consumer behavior.

Harmon expected a U-shaped recovery as retailers navigate government-dictated staged reopening across the country but business is not expected to immediately return to post-pandemic levels. Harmon said in the last five weeks, around two-thirds of consumers were buying online than they had previously. But they were mainly buying food and sanitation products, home office supplies and fitness equipment.

Harmon predicted that post-lockdown; consumer demand will change dramatically as only 18.6 per cent of consumers are expected to buy apparel, footwear or accessories. Evan Gold, executive vice president of global partnerships for Planalytics, predicted shoppers to more attuned to weather than ever before and shop for seasonal merchandise in season, rather than before.