This is exchanges at Goldman Sachs, where we discuss developments currently shaping markets, industries in the global economy.

I'm Jake Stewart, Globalhead of Corporate Communications here at the firm.

Today we're going to talk about the state of consumer retail sector

and how consumer retail companies are poised to navigate the post-pandemic era, God willing.

To do that, we're joined by Jen Davis, head of Retail Investment Banking, and Vishal Rana, a managing director in the Consumer

Retail Group in the Investment Banking division here at Goldman Sachs.

Jen, we shall, welcome to the program.

Thanks for having us, Jake.

Thanks for having us.

All right, Jen, let's start with you.

We're obviously at a critical juncture as the economy starts to reopen or has reopened in many places,

and vaccines continue to roll out broadly.

What does this turning point mean for retail and the companies you're covering?

Yeah, it's a tremendously interesting time so I think it's a great time to be talking

about all of this.

Look, not surprisingly the retail sector has continued to massively evolve over the last 12 months.

E-commerce volumes grew as much in the first quarter of 2020 as they did in the prior

10 years, which is just incredible for us.

So when we think about that critical inflection point,

Jake, that you asked about the turning point means

that retailers can really start thinking now more offensively

versus defensively, which is where they were a year ago.

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