"In fact, the pandemic has supercharged the shift to online in such a way that we've seen a really significant change in consumer behaviour take place in the space of four or five months," Dr Grimmer, senior lecturer in marketing and retail at UTAS' Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, said.

"And this huge shift to online was one that we predicted would have taken about five years if it hadn't been for COVID.

"It is predicted online shopping will account for around 15-20 per cent of total retail sales by the end of this year and this obviously has a significant impact for traditional bricks and mortar stores around Australia and particularly in Tasmania."

Dr Grimmer said coronavirus had been instrumental in "forcing" consumers to shop online.

"... for many people, shopping online during the height of the pandemic when we were all in lockdown may have been the first time they had ever shopped online," she said.

Asked if she expected to see a wave of bricks and mortar retailers closing in Tasmania in the next year or two, Dr Grimmer said the stores which survived would be those that could meet the change in consumer shopping preferences.

"People want the choice to be able to shop in stores and have that in-store experience, but they also want to have the option of the convenience of online shopping and delivery to their homes," she said.

"Providing a satisfactory online shopping experience has been a real challenge for many Tasmanian retailers who have had to shift and adapt their operations in a very short period of time and there have certainly been issues for many retailers."

Dr Grimmer said there were stories of retailers who were performing very well this year and she had heard many stories of retailers reporting they were enjoying strong sales.

She believed there was much uncertainty in the community about what the future held in terms of another lockdown, and that affected consumer and business confidence.

"I think it's really important that we all try and support local retailers as best we can," she said.

"We don't want to lose our local shopping areas and local stores."

Some retail sectors thrived during the state's peak pandemic period, while others were clubbed, largely due to forced closures and movement restrictions.

" ... the winners have obviously been supermarkets, hardware, pharmacies and homewares and office equipment," Dr Grimmer said.

"The losers have been cafes and restaurants and, for a while, clothing, accessories and footwear and department stores continue to really suffer."

She said there had been a recent increase in people buying takeaway food, games and toys and fashion had picked up with more people heading back to work.

"I think these trends will continue as consumers will still show interest in home improvement and making their homes more comfortable as they spend more time at home, fashion will likely pick up as we move into summer, but there is no doubt that clothing is a sector that is struggling overall.

"Department stores have been suffering for quite some time, prior to COVID, and this section will remain weak."

Dr Grimmer believed awareness of shopping local and supporting local stores and businesses was increasing.

" ... we are seeing many consumers trying to support local stores and local producers and suppliers and this will be really important for a place like Tasmania as we try and navigate through the pandemic and spend our money at Tasmanian businesses," she said.

Tasmanian retail set another all-time monthly sales record in July, according to seasonally adjusted Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.

Turnover increased to $656.2 million in July from $629.9 million in June and $606 million in May.

March - when panic buying set in - was the only other month on record with more than $600 million of sales ($626.3 million).

Turnover crashed to $516.5 million in April as movement restrictions and forced closures took force.

Cafes, restaurants and takeaways increased sales by $10 million in July to total $65.2 million.

That was close to a record total.

Liquor sales increased by $1 million to $36.7 million.

That was the highest on record, although the ABS has now only published 16 months' worth of separate data for liquor turnover.

Sales at supermarkets and grocery stores increased by $3.3 million to $244.2 million, still some way off the $267.7 million record set in March.