 Urban retail is being reinvented. Even before the pandemic, e-commerce was challenging recreational shopping in cities, ethical concerns about cheap labor were becoming more prominent, and the climate and ecological emergency was prompting questions about hyper-consumerism, the accumulation of more stuff, and discard culture. In the wake of the global pandemic, new lifestyles and consumption habits are emerging, which will accelerate changes in the shopping and retail sector with profound implications for cities and their spaces of mass consumption. Concrete change is already evident. We are witnessing the displacement of physical retail spending and other multiple structural changes in the sector, such as the demand for grocery deliveries and direct wholesale delivery increases, the introduction of efficient e-commerce platforms and prompt fulfillment being developed, and product diversification pushed forward. As non-essential bricks-and-mortar retail stores had no other option than to close and move their businesses online over the course of multiple government lockdowns. Fast numbers of consumers turned to online shopping, and many customers are choosing not to go back once shops reopen. With online retail giant Amazon emerging as one of the winners of COVID-19, we should be realistic about the future of shopping districts in our cities by asking if the new patterns of consumption are changing our cities forever and whether they could be a catalyst for positive change.