E-Commerce Sales Up 10.5 Percent In One Quarter
E-Commerce sales increased to $681.77B in 2Q2020, representing a 10.5-percent increase compared to the prior quarter. This shift in consumer behavior creates opportunities for those manufacturers willing and able to adopt to shifting consumer preferences.
On August 18th, the Census Bureau released its second quarter reading of U.S. e-commerce sales. In the latest quarter the reading was $681.8B; up 10.5-percent from the prior quarter and 23.7-percent from the same quarter one-year ago.
COVID’s acceleration of the movement toward online purchases will also speed the evolution of the supply chain of the future. The way in which goods arrive at their destination location will require new sorting and transportation equipment from advanced robots, conveyors and sensors to electric delivery trucks and even drones.
As the demand for packaging solutions which are optimized for e-commerce delivery grows, machinery and equipment manufacturers will have yet more opportunities for growth. According to Smirthers Pira, e-commerce packaging accounted for just 3.3% of the $850B packaging materials market in 2017. The fact that e-commerce packaging was forecasted to grow at 14% before COVID accelerated this transition suggests that firms able to provide the machinery that are willing to help solve the the e-commerce packaging solutions of today -and tomorrow- will have a very bright future.