Disney Closing at Least 20% of Physical Disney Stores, Focus Shifts to E-Commerce

Iain

Disney Closing at Least 20% of Physical Disney Stores, Focus Shifts to E-Commerce

According to CNBC, The Walt Disney Company is closing at least 20% of its brick-and-mortar stores by the end of the year, as its focus shifts more and more towards e-commerce. At least 60 out of 300 Disney Stores will be closing across North America, and then an evaluation on whether to extend these closings to other parts of the world will begin.

disney store mall of america

The company plans to further utilize its popular shopDisney website and will be adding more “adult apparel collections, streetwear, premium home products, and collectibles” to the online store in the coming months.

Stephanie Young, president of consumer products, games, and publishing states, “While consumer behavior has shifted toward online shopping, the global pandemic has changed what consumers expect from a retailer.” As the COVID-19 pandemic created a massive increase in demand for online shopping, this does not come as a surprise.

The pandemic alone changed shopping habits so drastically, that the demand for e-commerce jumped ahead by about five years. E-commerce sales increased by 32.4%, up to $791.7 billion, in 2020, and that number continues to grow.

While North America will be the first continent to see mass Disney Store closures, Disney officials state that after the effects of these closures are evaluated, Europe would likely be the next target. In the meantime, Disney plans to continue updating and improving its popular shopDisney site, and will add a larger selection of merchandise to appeal to a wider audience.

The Walt Disney Company has not yet made a statement on the impact of job losses due to the store closings.

3 thoughts on “Disney Closing at Least 20% of Physical Disney Stores, Focus Shifts to E-Commerce”

  1. If I cannot be there in person to enjoy the Disney experience, I will have no reason to purchase Disney merchandise outside of the parks. Disney won’t understand the mistakes they are making until the damage is done…

  2. You know what I would rather go shopping in person then do online people can not keep hiding behind a brick wall and pretend everything is ok. Disney needs to cut the crap and get back to doing things the way it was before this virus. I do not support any of this.

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