2. Physical impact: 2,294 retail stores closed down
However, the epidemic has also forced the retail industry to gradually move toward digitalization, and many traditional retailers have accelerated the construction of e-commerce businesses.
On June 15, Walmart and Shopify announced that approximately 1,200 sellers using Shopify will be able to sell on Walmart’s US online mall by the end of the year. Je? Clementz, vice president of Walmart Marketplace business, said that this integration will allow Shopify sellers to seamlessly list their products on Walmart.com, which will also allow Walmart customers to browse more products.
eMarketer data in May 2020 shows that comparing the market shares of major companies in the U.S. e-commerce field, Amazon topped the list with a market share of 38.0%, followed by Walmart and eBay with 5.8% and 4.5% respectively. Two, three. The forecast predicts that by 2020, Walmart’s e-commerce sales will grow by more than 35%, accounting for 5.8% of the U.S. e-commerce market.
2. The export volume of 3D printers skyrocketed, and merchants sold one every 8 seconds
During the epidemic in Europe and the United States, the export volume of China’s 3D printers surged. According to data from AliExpress, sales of 3D printers on the platform doubled during the epidemic compared with last year. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics also shows that China’s 3D printing equipment output increased by 87.7% year-on-year in the first quarter, and this growth rate further climbed to 344.7% in April.
An important reason why 3D printing sales are so popular is that 3D printing provides new possibilities for solving global supply chain problems. During the epidemic, the serious shortage of epidemic prevention materials faced by Europe and the United States and other countries can also be solved by relying on 3D printers. 3D printers are used to print anti-epidemic materials such as masks, face shields, goggles, ventilators and even isolation wards. Wang Mingqiang, general manager of AliExpress, said: “The global supply chain is mainly based on traditional offline channels. During the epidemic, a large number of overseas factories were closed and offline circulation channels were restricted. However, online cross-border channels are smooth, so many People buy 3D printers on AliExpress to print masks, car parts, and even aircraft parts.”