The extensive cost of last mile delivery often leads to a lack of profitability, with over 50% of shipping costs attributed to last mile alone. The increasing demand for e-commerce and rising consumer expectations has placed greater pressure on companies to expedite delivery while keeping costs low.

US online holiday sales are estimated to grow 24% year over year in 2020. According to a new forecast report, “US Online Holiday Sales Will Reach Historic Levels Despite Uncertainty From COVID-19,” US online holiday sales will mirror the high growth trend that online retail has experienced since the start of the pandemic.

It’s clear that 2020 will go on record as the year that the digital revolution made tremendous strides through the consumer psyche. Online retailers are expected to see record highs as consumers are unable to frequent physical retail locations, with traditional retailers forced to embrace online and multi-channel methodologies in a bid to protect their position within the market.

Online sales will grow at an average of 11.9 percent per year over the next five years in Western Europe with 21 percent of non-grocery retail sales being online by 2022, according to a new report from Forrester Research. Although grocery will be one of the fastest-growing online retail categories, just 4.5 percent of grocery sales will occur online in 2022.