Digital is hurting the grocery store, which as predicted by Furthr, is taking its turn to be disrupted by digital.

General merchandise stores shed 34,700 jobs in the US this March.

“E-commerce and technology have absolutely changed the rules of the game and given massive amounts of power to the consumer,” said Simeon Siegel, a retail analyst at Nomura.

“There is a self-help mentality now. People walk around with their phones in their hand to tell them the best model and the best price. You don’t need as many people walking around trying to convince you to buy a sweater.”

And this is troubling for the US economy. Whilst General Motors was once the single largest employer, today Walmart is.

According to Diane Swonk, the chief executive of DS Economics in Chicago, “Retail is one of the largest employers in the country, and it’s going to go through a pretty massive secular restructuring.

“We shop differently now, and no one has the right model.”

Posted in: Infographic of the day