Markets
Retail Apocalypse: Everything You Need to Know
Chart: Retail Apocalypse 2017
The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.
The steady rise of online retail sales should have surprised no one.
Back in 2000, less than 1% of retail sales came from e-commerce. However, online sales have climbed each and every year since then, even through the Great Recession. By 2009, e-commerce made up about 4.0% of total retail sales, and today the latest number we have is 8.3%.
Here’s another knowledge bomb: it’s going to keep growing for the foreseeable future. Huge surprise, right?
Signs of a Reckoning
Retailers eye their competition relentlessly, and the sector also has notoriously thin margins.
The big retailers must have seen the “retail apocalypse” coming. The question is: what did they do about it?
Well, companies like Sears failed the shift to digital altogether – in fact, it is even widely speculated that the former behemoth might file for bankruptcy later this year.
The majority of other companies, on the other hand, are trying to combine “clicks and bricks” into a cohesive strategy. This sounds good in theory, but for established and sprawling brick and mortar retailers with excessive overhead costs, such tactics may not be enough to ward off this powerful secular trend. Target, for example, has had impressive growth in online sales, but they still only make up just 5% of total sales. As a result, the company’s robustness is also in doubt.
Wal-Mart took another route, which could potentially be the smartest one. The company hedged their bets by buying Jet.com, which was one of the fastest growing online retailers at the time. Later, they followed up by buying an online shoe retailer to help fill a perceived gap in footwear. Recent reports have surfaced, saying that these acquisitions are leading to staff shakeups, as the company re-orients its focus.
After all, going online is not just a tactic to boost sales in the new era of retailing. It has to be a mindset, and one that is central to the company’s strategy. Hopefully Wal-mart gets that, otherwise they will also be in trouble as well.
Apocalypse Now
In the midst of all of this is what is described as the “retail apocalypse”.
There are two main metrics that are pretty black and white:
Number of Bankruptcies: We’re not even one-third through 2017, and we already have about as many retail bankruptcies as the previous year’s total. If they continue at the current pace, we could see over 50 retailers bankrupt by the end of the year.
Number of Store Closings: So far we’ve seen roughly 3,000 store closings announced in 2017, and Credit Suisse estimates that could hit 8,600 by the end of the year. That would easily surpass 2008’s total, which was 6,200 closings, to be the worst year in recent memory.
Here’s some of the companies that have already filed for bankruptcy:
- Gordmans Stores
- Gander Mountain
- Radioshack (again)
- HHGregg
- BCBG Max Azria
- Eastern Outfitters
- Wet Seal
- The Limited
- Vanity Shop of Grand Forks
- Payless Inc.
- MC Sports
And here are the store closings occurring as a result of the retail apocalypse:
Markets
Graphene: An Investor’s Guide to the Emerging Market
The market value of graphene could reach $3.75 billion by 2030. As the emerging industry shows fast growth, it also faces obstacles.


Graphene: An Investor’s Guide to the Emerging Market
Graphene is an atomic-scale “honeycomb” that is revolutionizing the world of materials and capturing investor attention.
Experts predict that its market value could reach the billion-dollar threshold by 2027 and soar to a staggering $3.75 billion by 2030.
In this infographic sponsored by HydroGraph, we dive into everything investors need to know about this exciting industry and where it’s headed.
Promising Properties
Graphene possesses several unique physical properties which contribute to its wide range of potential applications.
- 200 times stronger than steel
- Harder than diamonds
- 1,000 times lighter than paper
- 98% transparent
- Higher electrical conductivity than copper
- Heat conductivity: 5 times that of copper
- 2,630 m² of surface area per gram
Since its first successful isolation in 2004, graphene’s properties have opened the doors to a multitude of commercial applications and products.
Applications of Graphene
Graphene has permeated numerous sectors like electronics, energy, and healthcare because of its impressive array of end uses.
Industry | Revenue CAGR of Graphene Across Industries, 2022-2027 |
---|---|
Biomedical and Healthcare | 52% |
Electronics and Telecommunications | 34% |
Energy | 25% |
Aerospace and Defense | 16% |
Other End-User Industries | 17% |
Graphene’s antibacterial properties make it highly suitable for medical instruments and implants. Furthermore, it has shown remarkable potential in helping treat diseases such as cancer.
Another one of the material’s applications is its ability to emit high-speed light pulses, or to combine graphene’s thinness and high-conductivity to create the tiniest possible light sources.
All in all, it’s difficult to sum up graphene’s properties and potential applications in one place. The supermaterial has been covered and cited in thousands of academic journals, and comes up with over 2 million search results on Google Scholar.
Graphene Commercialization
Graphene has evolved from a scientific breakthrough to a commercial reality in less than two decades, putting it firmly on the radar of many future-focused investors.
But despite the strides the industry is making, it is still in its infancy, and therefore challenges exist on the path to widespread adoption. Here are the top five commercialization obstacles perceived by industry players.
Obstacle | % of survey respondents |
---|---|
Cost | 31% |
Production Methods, Scaling, and Distribution | 21% |
Material Quality/Consistency | 17% |
Lack of Knowledge/Awareness | 15% |
Dispersion/Handling | 14% |
When transitioning cutting-edge materials from the laboratory to consumer products, challenges like these can be expected. But one company is tackling them head-on.
By producing 99.8% pure graphene, and ensuring batch-to-batch consistency, HydroGraph is helping meet the growing demand for graphene products across industries while addressing challenges like cost, scale, and quality.

Interested in learning more? Explore investment opportunities with HydroGraph now.

-
Markets3 weeks ago
Charting the Rise of America’s Debt Ceiling
By June 1, a debt ceiling agreement must be finalized. The U.S. could default if politicians fail to act—causing many stark consequences.
-
Wealth3 weeks ago
Ranked: The World’s Top 50 Endowment Funds
Endowment funds represent the investment arms of nonprofits. See the worlds top 50, which collectively have over $1 trillion in assets.
-
Economy3 weeks ago
Visualizing the American Workforce as 100 People
Reimagining all 200 million of the American workforce as 100 people: where do they all work, what positions they hold, and what jobs they do?
-
Banks1 month ago
Visualized: Real Interest Rates by Country
What countries have the highest real interest rates? We look at 40 economies to analyze nominal and real rates after projected inflation.
-
Markets2 months ago
Ranked: The Largest Bond Markets in the World
The global bond market stands at $133 trillion in value. Here are the major players in bond markets worldwide.
-
Markets2 months ago
Visualized: The Largest Trading Partners of the U.S.
Who are the biggest trading partners of the U.S.? This visual showcases the trade balances between the U.S. and its trading partners.
-
Economy3 weeks ago
Visualizing the American Workforce as 100 People
-
Technology6 days ago
Nvidia Joins the Trillion Dollar Club
-
Batteries3 weeks ago
How EV Adoption Will Impact Oil Consumption (2015-2025P)
-
Demographics3 days ago
Comparing Population Pyramids Around the World
-
Wealth3 weeks ago
Ranked: The World’s Top 50 Endowment Funds
-
Green1 day ago
Ranked: The 20 Most Air-Polluted Cities on Earth
-
Markets3 weeks ago
Charting the Rise of America’s Debt Ceiling
-
Money4 weeks ago
Comparing the Speed of Interest Rate Hikes (1988-2023)