The holiday shopping season is underway. And if past trends in the last two years are any indication, it seems that much of the shopping will be done online. Gone are the days when people line-up for deals. The data here shows that the pandemic created a big spike in consumers buying things online. It has not gone away and even increased lately. E-commerce remains less than 15% of total sales. But if this trend continues, city centers, once teaming with retail, may never fully come back. 

Source: FRED

Allison Schrager is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow her on Twitter here.