E-commerce is the fastest growing segment of the retail market in Europe and North America. Combined ecommerce sales in Western Europe (UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy and Spain) were £152.20bn in 2015 and reached £224.425bn in 2019 (+47.5% growth). Worldwide eCommerce will grow another 14.3% this year3 led by China and its more than 710M online shoppers4. 

China’s economy actually beat forecasts to finish the year 2.3% ahead5 amid strong consumer optimism. The U.S. Consumer Confidence Index, a leading economic indicator, continued a rise that started in May 20206 . Signs of recovery were evident across the world, as business cycle indicators were mostly on the uptick7