This past week's advance report on retail sales for June shows that sales increased at a .6% rate versus May, and an 18% increase on a year-over-year basis. Total retail sales for June equaled $621.3 billion. Non-store sales totaled $88 billion while brick and mortar sales totaled $533.4 billion, as seen in the chart below.

The economic shutdown that resulted from the pandemic was a significant benefit to non-store or e-commerce type sales. The blue line in the chart above shows the steep contraction in brick and mortar retail at the start and throughout the pandemic. Some of this decline in brick and mortar sales moved to online sales, as seen with the the increase in the green line above.

With the worst of the pandemic seemingly in the rearview mirror, individuals locked down during the pandemic now desire to get out of their homes and are frequenting brick and mortar retail at a higher pace.

The chart below shows that since the end of the recession caused by the bursting of the technology bubble in 2002, the growth rate of non-store retail sales exceeded brick and mortar sales for nearly twenty years until March of this year. Since March 2021, though, the growth rate of brick and mortar sales has far outpaced non-store sales growth, as demonstrated below.

The below table taken from the U.S. Census Bureau's retail sales report highlights categories of sales experiencing significant increases. Even on a month-over-month basis, most of the category percentage increases exceed the non-store category increase.

On a year-over-year basis, clothing store sales are up 47.1%, auto sales are up 21%, electronics and appliances are up 37.3%, and home furnishings are up 17.1%.These increases show the strength of the consumer and their effort to satisfy pent-up demand. At least for the time being, brick and mortar retailers have an advantage in the eye of the consumer.