Newspaper headlines scream about the retail apocalypse citing new store closings and bankruptcies on almost a daily basis. However, recent data on consumer debt indicates that retail may not be dying. Rather, the format is dramatically changing.
These trends may benefit ecommerce platforms such as Amazon.com (AMZN) in the U.S. and Alibaba (BABA), Tencent (TCEHY), and Ctrip.com (CTRP) in China.
Amazon Prime Day Drives Up Debt Levels in the U.S.
Consumer credit increased by $23.3 billion during July 2019 versus a nearly $14 billion increase in June 2019. Driving the increase was a $10 billion