What: Now that stores are open again, e-commerce does not seem to be poised to achieve what was predicted a year ago.

Why it is important: Many IADS leaders saw this coming and remained confident in their ability to bounce back thanks to their stores, even though they have made heavy investments in their digital capabilities to be on par with pure players.

All comments during and just after the peak of the pandemic converged into saying that e-commerce had gone through a 10 years acceleration and that e-retailers were the future. This week, Amazon share price has fallen back to pre-pandemic level, shares of Zoom video conferences are also back to where they were before Covid, and Shopify is a third lower than before the crisis.

According to the columnists, online shoppers have been more than happy to get back to the store, and this translates in a decrease of the multiples financial analysts are ready to grant to tech shares. The situation is worsened by the supply chain crisis, which is putting the margins of all operators, including e-commerce retailers (who have to sustain heavy delivery costs) under considerable stress.

Pandemic dividends are distant memories for ecommerce