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The year 2020 will never be forgotten in history as it was the time when the world was gripped by a pandemic that has killed more than a million people already. In this modern era, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis worldwide was so massive as it did not just took away lives but ended livelihoods as businesses were forced to close down.
How the retailing business changed amid the pandemic
As per Fortune, before 2020 ended, more than 12,200 retail stores across the U.S. have shut down as the pandemic changed the retailing business forever. It has caused a big shift that most business owners are not yet prepared for, and this led to the closure of stores.
Big firms have been affected by COVID-19 big-time and what more for the smaller businesses out there. Definitely, it is not only in America, but store closures also happened in many countries worldwide. The main reason for this is the sudden shift to e-commerce.
Online retail stores have dominated the business structures as people started to do their shopping via the internet. Since the public is not allowed to go out of their homes as lockdowns are in place to curb the virus, online shopping remained the only option to get supplies and other things.
The boom in the online business led to the massive decline in the retailing business, and even big chain stores like JC Penney, Gap, Bed and Bath, Walmart, Target, Macy’s, and more have close some if not all of their stores in certain states. Many have also filed for bankruptcy as the companies are no longer earning, yet they still have so much to pay like taxes, rents, salaries, and more.
The “retail apocalypse” continues in 2021
While COVID-19 started last year, the world has not yet fully curb the spread of the virus. This means that people are still staying in their homes, and in turn, businesses continue to suffer. Many companies have permanently shut their stores down, and many more are closing out this year.
The pandemic is truly an “apocalypse” that has terrorized the retail sector. Businesses that are still thriving and have previous plans of expansion have already halted their plans because that is the only way to survive in the business for now.
