The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak means the top retailers in the UK will generate sales of £5.4bn above and beyond what was previously expected for 2020, according to the latest forecasts from WARC's sister company Edge by Ascential.
However, it's the largest retailers who will benefit from this. The five largest retailers all gain a boost in sales because of COVID-19, whereas the following five are either flat or see a drop in sales – M&S sales will fall £0.5bn this year and tenth-placed Lidl is the only to see an uplift.
Amazon will also overtake Sainsbury's as...