Do you you think the commercial business models can ever be as robust as they were at pre covid levels?

Just prior to the pandemic, I started to see a lot of grocery delivery trucks. And a local supermarket remodeled their store to maintain storage for online orders. Here is an article from back in February 2019 (a year before the pandemic) describing the rush towards providing online shopping and delivery for groceries.

Additionally, brick-and-mortar stores of all kinds have been on the decline for years and are closing.

So, I think “traditional” in-person shopping is on the way out, but not necessarily due to Covid. In fact, I haven’t seen any real change since the pandemic started among my age group and younger. I’ve never had a grocery delivery, and go to the market(s) multiple times per week. They are very crowded and have been throughout the pandemic. So are retail stores.

I’m more concerned about education.

Yes. But not all stores will respond equally. Big retail – mall department stores – will die.

Smaller, more focused retail – for example: teen clothing, technology, linens, kitchen goods – will do well.

Grocery delivery will face because people will see that they are losing choices but not walking the aisles of the supermarket.

I think that the sales numbers will, in the aggregate, exceed pre-pandemic numbers. But not evenly.

We are unlikely to resume the extravagance of (for example) frequently dining out.

In my social circle, people cannot wait to visit a restaurant again. I think that will be perceived as even more of a luxury, and will return full force.

Getting groceries delivered is different. That, I think, will stay. Nobody is getting emotional nourishment from a big box store. In fact, isn’t that a draining experience for most? No reason to introduce it into our lives again, then.