Executives in the $3.9 trillion retail industry are facing their toughest call yet in an unprecedented year of hard decisions: What should they do inside their physical stores on Black Friday, amid a deadly pandemic that’s still likely to be raging? Last year 14% of the $1 trillion in holiday spending went online, according to researcher eMarketer, up from 10% in 2016. Even on Black Friday, more shoppers went to the web last year than visited stores, according to a survey. E-commerce costs will soar this holiday due to supply-chain bottlenecks. Couriers FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. both hiked delivery prices recently after lockdown-fueled demand exceeded the traditional holiday rush. Is the ecosystem around e-commerce prepared for this years Q4? My recommendations to everyone is to start preparing as early on as you can to adapt to this new context.

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