THE PANDEMIC AS A DRIVER
Published figures for the total volume of e-commerce sales during the second quarter of 2020 (the first three-month period impacted by the pandemic and a severe lockdown) showed growth of +0.2% in comparison with the same period in 2019.
Although this difference is scarcely significant in itself, what mattered was the structural change in Internet shopping for goods and services. Prior to Covid-19, the leisure sector cornered almost 40% of online sales (travel agencies, tour operators, airlines and landbased transport companies, hotels and similar accommodation, artistic activities and cinema, etc.). These services practically vanished following the outbreak of the pandemic.
In contrast to this, the performance with respect to other goods and services has swung the other way, with significant increases in the quarters after Covil9 compared with those previous the pandemic.
