Ecommerce is growing steadily every year, and it shows no sign of slowing down. Retailers must stay on top of the latest eCommerce statistics to follow industry trends, make tactical decisions, and improve your business. Here, we cover global consumer behavior concerning eCommerce, including aspects of online shopping, such as social media, general trends, and different platforms. Reviewing these statistics every year will allow you to shape your business and draw in more customers as eCommerce evolves.
Top Ecommerce Statistics
- In 2021, there will be approximately 2.14 billion online shoppers globally.
- Valued at $340 billion, the United States is the second-largest global eCommerce market.
- 85% of consumers research products before buying them online.
- The average US shopper spends $1,800 online per year, while the average UK shopper spends $1,600.
- 89% of customers report that poor customer service has made them stop buying from a company online.
- Offering free shipping can lead to increased conversions.
What Do You Want To Know?
Facts & Statistics
General Stats For Ecommerce
Key Statistics
- Statista estimates that there will be 2.14 billion digital buyers in the world in 2021.
- China has the most substantial eCommerce market value at $672 billion.
- By 2021, global eCommerce retail sales will get up to $4.88 trillion.
- In 2019, eCommerce retail made up 1% of all retail sales.
- Nasdaq estimates that 95% of all purchases will take place online by 2040.
- In the US, 80% of people who use the internet have completed at least a single online purchase.
- In the world, there are 12 million to 24 million eCommerce websites.
- Amazon was the top US app for shopping in 2018.
From 2014 to 2021, the number of global online shoppers climbed from 1.32 billion to 2.05 billion. The reasons for this increase include affordable devices, better internet, and convenience, making online shopping easier and more cost-effective as time goes on.
However, while the number of sales grows each year, the growth rate continues to decrease slightly each year. For example, the growth rate in 2019 was 21.5%, and experts expect the rate for 2021 to stop at 19.8%. This rate will continue to decrease as eCommerce moves into more challenging sectors.
India and Indonesia have the fastest expected growth in eCommerce between 2018 and 2022. Factors that affect this growth include:
- Affordable phones and internet plans
- Improved infrastructure
- Consumer trust with online payments
As a business owner, you must continue to improve your mobile infrastructure. Ecommerce statistics show that more and more purchases will happen via mobile devices in the coming years. Even with this information, almost 50% of US small businesses do not have a website.
Facts & Statistics
Demographic Information: Who Is Shopping Online?
Key Statistics
- Demographic Information: Who Is Shopping Online?
- Men and women shop online at similar rates, but men spend more money on the average single transaction.
- In one year, the average US shopper spends $1,800
- Baby Boomers spend more on an average single transaction than Gen X and Millennials.
- 57% of shoppers age 26-35 get a package or two from Amazon every week.
Men tend to use online shopping to purchase electronics or luxury items. Women tend to make purchases in food or cosmetics categories, which amount to lower-value purchases. Similarly, Baby Boomers spend more online than younger generations because they have the economic power to make larger purchases.
Many people assume that Millennials make the most online purchases. However, Generation X made 20% more purchases than Millennials in 2017, since Gen Xers have usually settled into careers and have homes and families.
According to Entrepreneur, over half of all Americans prefer online shopping to shop at physical stores. However, due to some online shopping limitations, most of their budget still goes to in-store purchases. As of 2017, eCommerce made up only 36% of the budget of the average American.
Facts & Statistics
What Ecommerce Platforms Have The Most Market Share?
Key Statistics
- The US is the second-largest market for eCommerce in the world.
- Shopify has processed over $172 billion in more than 175 countries.
- The platform Ecwid has over 70,000 open shops.
- Almost half of all online shoppers go directly to a major marketplace to make an online purchase.
- WordPress hosts 36% of all websites.
- The print-on-demand platform Printify has over 300,000 users.
- According to eCommerce statistics from CustomCat, more than 12,000 brands use CustomCat for fulfilling on-demand orders.
Globally, the Asia-Pacific region leads the market share. After the US, Europe, Germany, and France lead the market with $141.93 billion, $81.85 billion, and $69.43 billion in sales, respectively.
Each eCommerce platform has a different role. The top platforms in 2020 include Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, WooCommerce, and Squarespace. You may choose to use one of these platforms depending on your market, the user capabilities, associated fees, and investment for your business.
Shopify, for instance, is popular for small to medium business owners who need a straightforward interface. Shopify lets users set up their stores quickly using easy-to-follow steps. Larger companies can use Shopify Plus to operate on multiple channels and a larger scale.
Website integration also factors into an eCommerce platform’s popularity. Options such as Wix and Squarespace allow business owners to make their store and website in the same place. WooCommerce, powered by WordPress, hosts over 840,000 online stores.
You can also integrate many of these platforms. For example, users can incorporate SendOwl, a platform for digital goods, with Shopify. Using multiple services helps business owners create more comprehensive online stores that cater to all of their needs.
Facts & Statistics
Shopping Cart Statistics
Key Statistics
- In 2018, 41% of shoppers left items in their cart without checking out.
- With an online store, users make approximately one purchase for every 35 visits.
- Consumers are more likely to abandon a mobile shopping cart than a cart on desktop.
- According to eCommerce statistics from Salesforce, 85% of consumers research before buying something online.
- Consumer loyalty can decrease by 50% if you have a slow site.
- Shoppers are likely to abandon their carts if they have to make an account.
- Extra fees can make 61% of shoppers quit their transactions.
- The number of consumers who use their phones to compare prices while shopping in-store is 65%.
Different studies show different rates for shopping cart abandonment online. Regardless, online shopping has a higher likelihood of cart abandonment than in-person shopping, as you don’t physically leave goods and walk away.
Ecommerce statistics show that screen size correlates to the likelihood of a purchase. Window shopping occurs more frequently on mobile phones and tablets than on desktops.
The reasons a consumer has for leaving a transaction vary, though they can include a complicated checkout process, low security, high shipping fees, or the shopper only planned to browse. Additionally, slow websites can raise abandonment levels by 75%.
To encourage consumers to go through with their purchase, make sure you have a straightforward checkout process. Consumers do not want to jump through hoops and fees to get their items. Also, a suspicious or non-secure payment window can deter many buyers.
The top-ranked eCommerce platforms have an average load speed of 1.9 seconds. Websites that take longer than that tend to move down in the rankings and see higher cart abandonment rates.
Facts & Statistics
Mobile Shopping Statistics
Key Statistics
- According to Status Labs, close to 30% of shoppers will not purchase if the shopping platform is not mobile-friendly.
- In 2017, mobile shopping on Cyber Monday reached $2 billion.
- Being able to shop at any time is the number one reason consumers use eCommerce.
- The number of Millennials who have used a mobile phone to compare deals is 93%.
- In the US, 82% of internet users have shopped online from a cell phone.
- Mobile app conversions add up to three times more than conversions from websites.
- If a shopper has a bad experience in your mobile store, they will be 62% less likely to use your site again.
- You can increase your clicks by 45% when you make a call-to-action button.
Mobile shopping is the fastest growing means of eCommerce. Many consumers rely on their phones to find information and make purchase decisions. To accommodate these shoppers, business owners need to optimize their website or app for mobile use.
An app can positively impact your customers’ shopping experiences. According to eCommerce statistics, people spend 90% of their time using apps when they use a mobile device. Data from Invesp shows that over half of tablet and phone users use company apps to shop.
You also want to make your mobile platform secure. Many consumers do not make purchases online if they don’t think you have a trustworthy website.
Consumers use mobile shopping to make a large portion of their online purchases during the holidays. If they do shop in-store, they may use their phones to find more information or to compare locations and prices.
Facts & Statistics
Role Of Social Media
Key Statistics
- Stores with no presence on social media average 32% fewer sales than other stores.
- Many shoppers use YouTube to watch product reviews before they purchase online.
- According to Status Labs, 80% of shoppers get purchase advice from social media.
- Social media use accounts for 30% of the time people spend on the internet.
- 30% of consumers would be willing to buy products through social media in 2019.
- 75% of people who use Instagram have purchased after seeing an Instagram ad.
- Facebook ads have a conversion rate average of 21%
- Social media users are more likely to use Instagram to keep up with brands than other social platforms.
According to eCommerce statistics, online stores that sell through multiple channels have more success than those who use only one. You want your business to sell to and engage customers through email, your website, Instagram, Facebook, and more. That way, you can efficiently push potential customers through your sales structure.
In China, 55% of people who use social media said that they buy products through those platforms. In the US, Gen Z and Millennial users are more likely to buy a product based on social media interaction than older generations. For Gen Z, 55% of those users reported buying clothing based on posts online.
As most marketers know, people trust the opinions of friends and family over brands. Many consumers are more likely to buy something if they see it from a blogger, YouTuber, or influencer they trust. Social proof is the reason many companies opt for influencer marketing strategies instead of using only ads or celebrity endorsements.
One out of every four companies on Facebook sells items. Today, users on TikTok can add links to online shops in their bios.
When you create social media accounts, you need someone with the know-how to run them. Certain types of posts and ads on social platforms see more engagement than others. For example, posts with images get more clicks than posts with only text.
Facts & Statistics
Does Email Marketing Still Work?
Key Statistics
- According to Statista, 61% of people prefer to hear from companies via email.
- Of the top online retailers in the US, 58% of them send welcome emails to customers.
- Each dollar spent on email marketing returns $44.
- 20% of the traffic that drives eCommerce sales comes from email marketing.
- People open 45% of emails related to abandoned carts.
- The most clicked type of email is transactional emails.
- The subject line makes 35% of people open an email.
- In 2016, 76 billion people in the world used email.
- 78% of customers have removed their address from brand email lists after getting too many messages.
- 59% of marketers said that the most effective option for revenue leads is email.
Compared to other marketing strategies, email’s ROI is the highest. An email is a useful tool for generating leads and maintaining relationships with customers. For these reasons, you should use email in your sales campaigns.
Almost half of all consumers who use email have purchased a product as a result of a promotional message. When sending emails, you should send genuine messages with engaging subject lines. Otherwise, many consumers may write off your message as spam.
You can use a proven strategy for writing successful promotional emails. According to Forbes, people opened emails from brands that used emojis in their subject lines over those that didn’t. Additionally, people are more likely to open segmented campaign emails.
Ecommerce statistics show that most Americans want to get sales emails. They would also be willing to give out their email information if it gave them the benefit of lower prices on products. However, 60% of email users claim that they get too many sales emails, which leads them to unsubscribe.
Facts & Statistics
Search Engine Optimization And Ecommerce
Key Statistics
- 94% of organic search engine traffic comes from Google.
- More than 63,000 Google searches happen every second.
- 80% of people who use search engines ignore ads and only look at organic pages.
- Half of all mobile searchers visit a store within a day of finding it online.
- Articles that appear on the first page of Google contain 1,890 words on average.
- Most marketers report that improving SEO is their highest priority for inbound marketing.
- According to eCommerce statistics from Think With Google, 51% of mobile users found a new product or business from a mobile search.
- In comparison to paid ads, organic ranking gives a business 5 times ROI.
If you don’t have a Google ranking strategy, you may miss out on potential customers. People rely more and more on searching for businesses online to find what they need.
Organic searches on Google make up 43% of online shopping traffic. These days, you can use many tools to improve SEO for your business, so don’t miss out on accessible opportunities to increase your ranking.
Compared to direct mail and cold calls, SEO has a much higher conversion rate. No matter your field, you want to create content and webpages that get your business in front of consumers. More than half of all consumers around the world trust search engines to conduct business research.
People also want to know they can find information about your business quickly. You want to be visible on local search results, as many mobile searches rank according to location, as well as relevance. Consumers often find new businesses by searching for a specific topic in their area.
Facts & Statistics
What Is Ecommerce Customer Service?
Key Statistics
- A little over half of all consumers trust companies more if they have readily available contact information.
- In ages 18 to ages 29, 43% of these consumers will turn to social media for customer service.
- Inconvenient return policy can turn away 80% of shoppers.
- 89% of customers report that poor customer service has made them stop buying from a company online.
- However, 70% of online shoppers say they will return to a company if they handle their complaints well.
- Customer satisfaction goes up by 19% for companies using Twitter for customer interactions.
- The channel that results in the highest satisfaction levels is live chat.
As with in-person shopping, people will have questions about or issues with the products they buy. You must have clear and reliable shipping and return policies in your online store. Even online shoppers want to interact with a real person if they have a concern.
As a business owner, you want to make sure your customers can speak with a company representative when they need help. Poor customer service will cost you repeat business. Ecommerce statistics show that live chat wins over email and phone contact for customer satisfaction.
If you use multiple channels to interact with people, you want to monitor complaints on every channel. Some online shoppers will try to use social media to help resolve an issue. They may also leave a comment or review on your brand page.
Today’s consumers rely on reviews to make purchases. Part of company customer service includes responding to these reviews, whether they are positive or negative. A positive customer service experience makes it more likely for a person to recommend your business to a friend.
Facts & Statistics
What Affects Conversion Rates In Online Shopping?
Key Statistics
- Your conversion rates can improve by 35% when you optimize the checkout process for users.
- Small to medium business owners claim that providing free shipping leads to increased profits.
- In 2018, poor personalization for online shopping led businesses to lose an estimated $756
- Landing pages with videos increase conversions by 86% on average.
- Conversions from eCommerce can vary from one industry to the next.
- Your conversions can decrease by 7% for each second-long delay in website loading time.
You should run user-tests and use other methods to optimize your site’s shopping experience. Color scheme, word choice, and button placement can all impact consumer behavior. You also want to make it as simple as possible for your customers to view their cart and check out.
According to eCommerce statistics, 75% of businesses experience difficulty finding copywriters. A copywriter can help you optimize your pages for search engines and users.
Finally, you should avoid scaring consumers away from your website with information overload. In terms of ads, consumers disapprove of pop-ups the most, followed by mobile ads and video ads. Present advertisements professionally to keep your consumer’s attention.
Ecommerce Stats Wrap Up
Online shopping will continue to grow in the coming years as more consumers use their phones to buy goods and services. You must stay updated on eCommerce statistics to keep your business ahead of the curve.
Success in eCommerce comes from website optimization, excellent customer service, and other factors such as social proof. Run landing page tests and other regular maintenance to ensure your shop operates at its fullest potential.
