Editor’s Note
The data is clear: e-commerce is not the future—it’s the present. With over 20% of retail sales already occurring online and that share projected to grow, investing in a robust digital storefront is no longer optional for businesses that intend to compete. This article underscores the urgent need to shift resources from physical expansion to online development and marketing.
20.1% of retail purchases are expected to take place online in 2024.
Each year, fewer and fewer people are shopping in physical stores. To stay ahead of the game, your company needs to maximize its online presence and give customers a viable way to shop online. Rather than putting more money into brick-and-mortar locations, consider putting that budget into developing and marketing an online store.
By 2027, 23% of retail purchases are expected to take place online.
Online shopping statistics show the increase in digital orders is not just a trend. Shopping online is here to stay, as 22.6% of total retail sales will be conducted online in 2027. Start thinking today about how to sell products online to avoid becoming obsolete.
E-commerce sales are expected to grow 8.8% in 2024.
The entire e-commerce business is booming, not just retail sales. With nearly 9% growth projected for this year, there are plenty of opportunities to dive in. Help your business stand out from the competition by staying at the forefront of online payment technologies and creating a website that’s easy to navigate and browse.
The global e-commerce market is expected to total $6.3 trillion in 2024.
Selling products online means you’re not limited to local consumers. This gives you nearly unlimited potential for new demographics—and the statistics show companies are taking advantage. The global e-commerce market is expected to be worth $6.3 trillion this year—up from $5.8 trillion in 2023.
By 2027, the e-commerce market is expected to total over $7.9 trillion.
It’s a great time to be in e-commerce, as the market shows no signs of slowing down. By 2027, experts predict it’ll total over $7.9 trillion. This showcases just how important it is to jump on the e-commerce bandwagon now, while it’s still relatively early. The earlier you buy in, the more money your company stands to make over time.
Amazon accounts for 37.6% of e-commerce sales, the highest market share of all e-commerce companies.
Amazon’s e-commerce sales are down slightly from the previous year when they were 37.8% of all sales. That said, the company is still leading the pack. Other top contenders include Walmart with 6.4% of sales, Apple with 3.6% of sales and eBay with 3% of sales.
Amazon, eBay and AliExpress are the most visited e-commerce websites.
Considering Amazon and eBay are two of the sites with the highest number of e-commerce sales, this shouldn’t be much of a shocker. Still, the number of visits each site gets annually is astounding. Counting all of Amazon’s country-specific domains, it gets over 2.8 billion views a year. AliExpress comes in second with 952 million, while eBay comes in third with 872 million.
52% of online shoppers report shopping internationally.
With the ease of international shipping and the simplicity of online orders, choosing a product from overseas is not a big concern for online shoppers. Globally, 52% of online consumers order from both local and international websites. Tailoring your offerings to international customers by offering additional shipping options could be a viable way to increase your sales.
The most common reason online shoppers abandon their cart is because of additional costs like shipping, taxes and fees (47%).
If you plan to add e-commerce to your business, you should know what will deter, rather than attract, customers. Almost half of online shoppers reported that extra fees, such as shipping and taxes, will prevent them from moving forward with their purchase during the checkout process. Other inhibitors include requiring shoppers to create an account, slow delivery times, website privacy concerns and a long or complicated checkout process.
25% of online shoppers abandon their cart because the site wanted them to create an account.
While you can ask online shoppers if they’d like to create an account on your website, you shouldn’t require them to do so. This is because some of them may simply leave your online store and look elsewhere for what they need. They’d prefer to checkout as a guest and don’t want to go through the time and hassle of creating a username and password.
24% drop out of an online shopping session because shipping is too slow.
When a customer orders a product online, they may not expect it that hour or that day. But many of them want it as soon as possible. If it takes weeks or months for you to ship orders, they’ll likely leave their online shopping session on your website and turn to a competitor with faster shipping times. E-commerce and slow shipping are not a good combination so it’s important to streamline your shipping processes and do whatever you can to expedite the time it takes for customers to receive their orders.
34% of shoppers shop online at least once a week.
For many people, shopping online is a strong habit. As many as 34% of shoppers buy something online once a week. Your company may be able to capitalize on this by using email marketing to send out weekly product updates and offerings to entice your customer base into a purchase.
The online shopping cart abandonment rate is 70%.