Businesses are restructuring so they can deliver goods and services to their customers safely, so their employees can work remotely, and so they can build resilience and reduce costs. Let me highlight a few examples. We have seen a huge rise in e-commerce since the start of the pandemic—at the expense of bricks-and-mortar stores. In 2020, e-commerce grew a remarkable 69 percent.
Retail sales as a whole were up about 4.5 percent in the year. While we can expect a return to in-store shopping as it becomes safe to do so, the pandemic has likely permanently advanced the trend toward e-commerce.