Analyzing China’s Post-Covid Retail Consumption Patterns with McKinsey’s Daniel Zipser

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Along with its human toll. Covid-19 also had a profound impact on China’s retail sales. At the height of the pandemic in January and February, foot traffic dried up due to lockdowns, and retail sales dropped sharply in most categories. As China has emerged from the effects of the virus, we’ve seen retail sales rebound and new, interesting patterns of consumer consumption emerge, some of them looking as if they’re reshaping the sector. We spoke with Daniel Zipser, McKinsey senior partner in China, to understand how the country weathered the unprecedented brick-and-mortar shutdown and the new and emerging online and offline consumption patterns, post-Covid. The transcript below has been edited for brevity and clarity.