With more than two decades of experience as a financial analyst, Chuck Grom serves as a managing director with Gordon Haskett Research Advisors in New York City, specializing in retail and supermarket stocks. As part of this work, Chuck Grom examines how current market trends are affecting the retail sector, such as the growing influence of e-commerce. 

According to market figures, retail sales rose nearly half a percent in March, which puts growth just ahead of the forecast 3.8 percent that retail is expected to gain in 2017, with retail merchandise expected to offset slowing purchases of vehicles and restaurant sales. A good percentage of this growth is expected to come from e-commerce, which forecasters predict could see as much as a 14 percent rise by year’s end. 

Conversely, sales at brick-and-mortar stores are only expected to increase by about 1.5 percent - the same as in 2016. Department stores are treading water for now, but the closure announcements coming from many large chains could change that. Additionally, general merchandise retailers have reported dipping sales for multiple consecutive months in 2017, giving e-commerce even more of a foothold to continue its rapid growth.