Whether you have a small Ecommerce business that’s only online or have a large online presence for your brick-and-mortar store, you need to know these Ecommerce statistics. Buying goods and services online is more common than ever, and it is increasingly difficult for businesses to compete without an online presence.
Of course, simply saying that Ecommerce is important isn’t enough, and neither should we be content with merely discussing how to get an edge. For business owners, it’s imperative to have a thorough knowledge of the issues to allow for a balanced approach to modern retail.
The Scope of Ecommerce Today
Before we can discuss ways to boost your Ecommerce marketing, it’s important to understand the degree to which this shopping method has become dominant. After all, the trends that sent traditional retail into a tailspin also contributed to the rise of ecommerce. These seven stats will look at the growth and current state of Ecommerce globally and in the United States today. Hopefully, you’ll be able to make plans based on trends.
1. Studies suggest that, in 2023, Ecommerce sales will comprise 20.8% of global retail sales.
We’ve come a long way since the Internet, right? One can only imagine how Covid accelerated this, but this stat means that EVERY business should have an Ecommerce marketing strategy, as Ecommerce is for B2B as well. Customers are online shopping and looking for products, but will the Internet user find your products or your competitors?
Keep in mind that this benchmark represents a relatively fast growth in Ecommerce over the last few years. However, Amazon announced layoffs in early 2023, citing a shift in their business after the end of lockdowns and the vast majority of Americans staying home to avoid the virus. In other words, while Ecommerce remains more popular than it was in 2019, there’s still some market correction.
Further Reading: How to Leverage Ecommerce Email Marketing to Increase Your Sales (with 14 Examples)
2. Global Ecommerce sales are on track to exceed $7 Trillion by 2025
This study by Insider Intelligence also tells us that Ecommerce sales will become an ever-larger percentage of retail sales. However, the trend will slow as the pandemic-related spending increases stop. Growth at the rate seen over the last couple of years is likely unsustainable.
What we can learn from this is that Ecommerce will continue to be important, and we need to keep investing in this modality. However, we also must not expect the eye-popping increases of the last few years. As Ecommerce statistics show, there should be meaningful growth well into the future. However, as wonderful as it might be to think that Ecommerce will take over the world, sometimes it’s still better to shop in person.
3. There Are 2.14 Billion People Shopping Online Globally
As Ecommerce company Oberlo points out, this number represents about one person in three. Considering that some people are too young to shop and that not everyone has internet, the percentage is staggering. Since the overall percentage of sales that happen online is expected to grow, we can only conclude that not having an online presence is costing most businesses a lot of money.
This is true even when you consider how economic and supply chain constraints still limit the extent to which people shop online. Some countries also have limited options because of international restrictions, or because they have poor infrastructure. You might say that Ecommerce is successful in some countries despite the challenges.
4. In 2022, the biggest share of the online Ecommerce market is in China
It shouldn’t be a surprise with the largest population, but they are also very advanced with mobile commerce using apps like WeChat as well. Furthermore, the lockdowns during Zero Covid massively increased the importance of Ecommerce for everyday Chinese. Although China will have the largest population well into the future, it will be interesting to see how a return to normalcy affects the market.
The thing is that even in a recession, the “buy online” culture is ingrained within China. If nothing else, online shopping allows for extra freedom to not be limited by local availability. In a country that doesn’t always have easy access to transportation, this flexibility can be a blessing. From the viewpoint of brands, having products available online is a must, or they surrender market share.
Further Reading: The Top 3 Social Commerce Platforms in China
5. Ecommerce is growing the fastest in Brazil
Along with Mexico, Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America. It’s probably unsurprising, therefore, that there’s a lot of Ecommerce activity. As more Brazilians have disposable income and access to the Internet, this shift to online shopping seems logical. Besides, they have access to more choices online. As a developing country, it’s unsurprising that Brazilians appreciate the choice. They can order items they need in the comfort of their own home and have them delivered.
Practically speaking, these Ecommerce statistics demonstrate that if you want to do business in Brazil or Mexico, you should probably have an online shop. Otherwise, you’ll pass up a lot of revenue from people who prefer to shop online, or locals in areas that are too small for a lot of retail.
6. Estimates predict that 218.8 million American consumers will use Ecommerce sites in 2023.
When you consider that the entire US has about 331 million residents, this is a large number. Plus, there are around 70 million children. While older kids can buy items online, the younger ones typically lack that capacity. In other words, 75% or more of the US population should shop online this year.
From a marketing perspective, this shows us the massive potential of ecommerce. While small business brands can definitely sell items primarily from physical stores, they still miss out on a lot of potential sales. Fortunately, smaller brands can use third-party Ecommerce sites like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy to market their goods.
7. Amazon estimates that they have 2.45 billion unique monthly visitors.
Obviously, Amazon is King in U.S. ecommerce, but its scope should be a reminder of its importance to Ecommerce statistics. The global population is around 8 billion, so the nearly 2.5 billion visitors are around 25%. In other words, Amazon is one of the best places to sell your goods online. Consumers clearly buy things on other websites, as evidenced by the sheer number of places to search. However, whether it’s a brand store or allowing wholesale sales to FBA sellers, it’s usually a great place to market your goods.
With that said, Amazon also has a lot of competing products. You’ll need to price your products carefully to get the best possible results. Fortunately, Ecommerce tools and the right advice can help your brand thrive, even on Amazon. Or if you don’t decide to sell on Amazon, you can at least demonstrate why you offer a better value proposition than the competition in this global marketplace.
Further Reading: How to Launch Your Ecommerce Store on Amazon in 2024
The Potential for Ecommerce Marketing Optimizations
As you can see, Ecommerce is a big deal. At least a third of the global population shops online, and the percentage is much higher in some countries. On the other hand, there are places where a much larger percentage shops online. This is unsurprising when you consider that consumers have a lot more choice when they use Ecommerce sites than when they’re limited to physical stores.
However, with choice and an easy distribution opportunity comes a lot of competition. Companies compete on price, quality, and variety. They have different brand stories and values. Besides, many new brands and innovative inventions are only available on the internet.
With all the competition online, how can we optimize our websites and products for the best sales opportunities? These ten Ecommerce statistics will help us learn how to beat the competition more easily.
Further Reading: The Ultimate Guide to SEO for eCommerce Websites
8. In the US, over 35% of small businesses lack a website
How often do you want to learn about a small local business and discover that they’re only on Facebook? Or worse, just Yelp and maybe the online Yellow Pages? The Ecommerce statistics show that this isn’t unusual. Many business owners don’t bother to create a website, especially if they are just starting out and don’t have the know-how to design a basic website.
For businesses in the first few months, this is probably fine. However, over time you’ll find that websites make it much easier to grow your business. Why is this important in a listing of Ecommerce statistics? Obviously, if you want to take advantage of ecommerce, you need a website! The only other option is to sell only on platforms like eBay or Amazon. However, that’s probably not appropriate for most businesses with unique products.
9. Visitors to Ecommerce sites use a mobile device 70% of the time
Most people have a smartphone these days, and it shows in these Ecommerce statistics. Besides owning a smartphone, people use them constantly, and for nearly everything. While we’ll see desktops used for a long time into the future, they’re less important to Ecommerce brands. That’s one reason why most large retailers have a mobile app these days.
With that said, the volume of Ecommerce site visits that come from mobile devices is important for marketing, too. Optimizing your mobile website is a best practice not only for SEO but equally for ecommerce. Ideally, you’ll do a good job of optimizing both your website versions to give yourself the best performance possible on Google.
Further Reading: How Mobile Deep Linking Increases Ecommerce Sales
10. The longer your page takes to load, the more often people leave
In marketing and SEO, we call people leaving a website without lingering for a while the “bounce rate.” High bounce rates are bad for SEO because Google and other search engines use the time people spend on a site to help determine its overall authority or usefulness. That’s because they ultimately exist to help people locate the information they need, not a bunch of letters on a page.
Ultimately, the longer your page takes to load, the more it will cost you on the SERPs. And once you hit the second page, your organic traffic will decline significantly. In other words, poor page speed can cost you a lot of money in lost sales. Not to mention the time you spend fixing it. I have an article with my best tips for WordPress page speeds.
11. The most important reason people use Ecommerce is free shipping
Try to think about these Ecommerce stats this way: if you live in an urban area and shipping is expensive, would you buy everything online? For all but the busiest professionals, the answer is likely to be “no.” Everyone loves to save money, and online shopping is one of the best ways to do this. Not only can you get a great price, but there’s a high chance you can save money on shipping.
Of course, there are exceptions for rural customers due to the relatively low variety of products available locally. Sending rural people what they needed is how Sears built up its catalog business long before the internet. With that said, customers from every demographic enjoy being able to pick up their purchases at the mailbox, risk-free.
Want to increase Ecommerce sales? Give your customers what they want: Free shipping! Even with a minimum order requirement people appreciate the courtesy.
12. Each time someone visits your Ecommerce site, there’s only a 2.17% chance that they’ll buy something
The abysmal conversion rate is among those Ecommerce statistics that show us we have a lot of work to do as marketers. Despite the fact that we work hard to carefully design our websites and craft product descriptions, most people don’t buy when they visit our site.
There are several reasons for this, of course. It might be that we don’t have a particular product that the customer wanted, or that it wasn’t available in the specifications we needed. And it’s nearly impossible to keep everything in stock all the time, especially when there are global supply chain challenges.
However, ultimately the poor conversion rate tells us that conversion rate optimization (CRO), or efforts to maximize our conversion rates through website design, pricing strategies, and other methods, are critical. Most people shop around, at least some of the time. And, if people have trouble finding products on your site, there’s a high chance they’ll leave without buying something.
13. Shopping carts are abandoned before checkout 70% of the time
Let’s face it: most of us browse Ecommerce sites, place things in our carts, and decide not to buy those products. Regularly. And for many different reasons, from finding a better deal to deciding it isn’t affordable, or even the wrong product.
Despite our best efforts, marketing and sales take time. It typically takes several “touches” with a customer to convert them into customers. People need to decide that your products and services meet their needs and provide the right value for their money.
Ultimately, the Ecommerce statistics on abandoned carts suggest that email marketing is critical. You need to use automated email marketing that is integrated with your shopping cart to send a sequence of emails to encourage these potential digital buyers back into your shopping cart to complete their online purchases. For instance, you can offer people a coupon to improve the value proposition. Hopefully, they’ll not only order but come back for more later.
Further Reading: 7 Best Practices In Creating Automated and Targeted Email Marketing Campaigns
14. The #1 reason people abandon their carts is hidden costs they think are too high
Let’s face it, shipping is expensive. So are customization and other fees. Especially in an era of free shipping and rampant inflation, customers are more cost-conscious than ever. And although people understand that shipping costs money, many of them are more comfortable paying a slightly higher item price to avoid separate charges.
Look at it this way. Amazon has two ways to get free shipping. One is through a Prime membership, and the other is through a minimum order. Prime shipping is typically faster than the free shipping with a larger order. They also have some items that only ship with minimum orders. And yet, people see the value of shopping with Amazon and remain loyal to the brand.
Ultimately, Amazon is successful with its shipping conditions for two reasons. First, they are transparent about costs. Shop on Amazon without being logged into a Prime account, and you’ll see each listing mention the shipping minimum (and the cost to ship less than that amount). And second, they are rarely more expensive than other websites, even with the cost of shipping factored in.
Ultimately, the less transparent you are about costs upfront, the more potential customers will abandon their cart. On the other hand, if you’re more transparent, then they’ll appreciate your honesty.
15. 90% of customers read online reviews to decide what they’ll buy
One thing we learn from Ecommerce statistics is how highly people view user-generated content. In this case, online reviews. Generally speaking, there are two types of independent reviews. There are the ones people post on the brand website, such as Amazon’s review section below product descriptions. In addition, you’ll find reviews on blogs. Some major websites, like C-Net or Wired, are technically blogs. People look to these sources as authoritative and place considerable weight on those reviews.
Besides sending products to major websites for review, you should encourage consumer reviews. In particular, you need to understand the importance of real, authentic reviews and build a community of customers that will happily post them because they truly love your product and want to share their love with their network. It’s the modern equivalent of word-of-mouth marketing.
Best of all, gathering authentic reviews is very inexpensive. Some brands have incentives, but the more effective method is asking people to share their experiences. If people are happy with their purchases, there’s a high chance that they’ll oblige.
Further Reading: 4 Effective Ways to Use Customer Testimonials in Your Content to Increase Conversion
16. 81% of consumers do online research before selecting the best products
While some products don’t need much introduction (who researches a loaf of sandwich bread), many of them do. And although we live in a relatively affluent society, people want to be sure and get their money’s worth. For this reason, people frequently research potential purchases online.
Of course, research comes in many forms. One of them, in addition to reviews on Ecommerce marketplaces like Amazon, is social media. People spend a lot of time on those websites and regularly ask their contacts for recommendations. Therefore, including your customers in your influencer marketing program is a great way to incite word of mouth in social media.
What’s influencer marketing? It’s the modern version of word-of-mouth and reviews. Brands compensate people who have a large social media following and some influence to use it on the brand’s behalf. The hope is that people will buy the reviewed items.
By the way, it’s very cost-effective.
17. With a 26% share of the market, Shopify is the #1 Ecommerce platform
Some things on the Internet work so well that they quickly become dominant. As these Ecommerce statistics show, Shopify is one of them. With its ease of use and easy ability to integrate with plugins and other Ecommerce services, people find Shopify very business-friendly. For instance, you can integrate Stripe, PayPal, and even a credit card processor into the checkout module. You can also connect Shopify to your email marketing tools to help them know when to send emails.
Ultimately, just as WordPress has emerged as the gorilla in the website CMS industry, so has Shopify become the gorilla in the CMS for the Ecommerce industry. Ease of use, a wide variety of features, and other aspects of the platform have made it wildly popular. Better yet, it’s open source, so you don’t have to pay for the account.
Conclusion
There’s little question that Ecommerce is a competitive, yet profitable and fast-growing, part of the internet. Even most brands that don’t want to sell primarily online have a small Ecommerce store to capture customer interest, and if they don’t, they’ll link to stores that do. Of course, for those of us who watched the emergence of Amazon and other Ecommerce giants back in the Nineties, these Ecommerce statistics come as no surprise. The convenience and variety of shopping online often beat walking from store to store in the mall.
Maybe that’s why malls are closing down in droves.
Further Reading: 15 Ways to Optimize Every Step of Your Ecommerce Funnel
Hero post by Walls.io on Unsplash
