The Covid pandemic was going to change our consumer habits. That's what analysts and strategists behind the major e-commerce companies thought. The installed wisdom was that during the pandemic e-commerce had taken a five-year leap. The return to normalcy has been frustrating to these predictions, especially in the US.

E-commerce's share of total U.S. retail sales grew from 11.9% in the first quarter of 2020 to 16.4% in the second quarter of that year, but from there saw a steady decline that brought them to 14.5% of the total in the second quarter of 2022according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. With the end of the restrictions, online retail sales are today where they would have been if they had followed the growth trend they showed before the pandemic.

There are several reasons for this return to the past. On the one hand, say behavioral experts, there is the association of habits: going back to work or to university in person brings with it consumption habits. There is also higher spending on services and entertainment. And there is inflation: e-commerce may be more practical, but it is not necessarily cheaper.. And in the face of rising prices, consumers are being much more careful with the final bill for their purchases.

The phenomenon, however, is not being repeated in Latin America, where the attachment to e-commerce is seen as more permanent.. This is due to its relatively low penetration and the emergence of new payment methods that facilitate online shopping among consumers who are outside traditional banking systems.