Shopping habits have changed greatly over the last few decades as they have been affected by circumstances, global events, and the ever-changing needs of consumers. The online shopping industry has only grown bigger in recent years and there are no signs that will change anytime soon.
With Millennials and Generation Z being at the forefront of the current trends in online shopping, the statistics have experienced a shift that has gone beyond needs to become a lifestyle and to affect daily life habits as well as social media habits. Online shopping and E-commerce in general has grown rapidly over the past few years and there is no expected decline in the trend in the coming years.
Expected Growth Stats for Online Shopping
As more people take their buying needs online, the industry keeps on expanding. Between 2020 when the hike in online shopping began and 2024, the growth has been tremendous. Here’s what the statistics are expected to look like in the coming years, especially regarding the amount of retail sales it accounts for.
- 90% of online retail stores sell fashion, home/garden essentials, and other life and style items.
- However, digital grocery has become a habit since the pandemic and is expected to see a hike by as much as 15% by the end of 2026.
- It is expected that Online shopping will total up to $7.9 trillion
- It is projected that 23% of all retail purchases will happen online by 2027.
Online Shopping Benchmark 2024
2024 has seen some adjustments in consumer online habits that has led to an increase in online shopping statistics. Take a look at the expected stats for online shopping in 2024.
- As of 2024, 33.3% of the world population shop online. This means that out of every 3 people, 1 is an online shopper. This would mean that….
- Over 20.1% of all retail shopping worldwide is expected to happen via an online shopping platform in 2024.
- In the United States alone,
- Online shopping stats will have exceeded $6.3 trillion by the end of 2024
- There are 2.71 billion online buyers in the world as of 2024. This is a significant rise from the 2.14 billion in 2023.
- Online shopping is expected to grow by 8.8% in 2024 alone
- 99% of online shoppers read through other buyer reviews before making a purchase.
- There are currently more than 26.6 million Online Stores in existence globally
Growth Rate of Online Shopping Platforms
As online shopping continues to grow, so also the number of online shopping platforms. In conforming to the changing times, a lot of retail stores have adapted by taking their businesses online and giving their customers the opportunity to still get the products they want without hassle.
- There are well over 26.6 million online stores worldwide.
- Amazon alone is responsible for 37.7% of all online sales worldwide.
- As the online shopping platform with the highest percentage of sales, the Amazon shopping platform gets over 2.8 billion views a year.
- Aliexpress is the second most visited online shopping platform with over 952 million visits yearly.
- eBay is the third most visited shopping platform with over 872 million views per year
Online Shopping World and Region Stats
While online shopping happens via the internet, statistics have shown that online shopping behavior is higher in certain parts of the world than in others. This is especially so because international shipping has been so simplified that people can buy from anywhere. These are the regions where online shopping happens the most:
- 52% out of the 2.71 billion buyers above search for products internationally since online shopping has simplified international shipping.
- India had the highest number of online shoppers worldwide in the first quarter of 2024 and Morocco had the lowest.
- In the United Kingdom, fashion is the highest online purchase category. It pulls in as much as 28.7% of the total online shopping revenue.
- Online shoppers in the United States spend $5,381 on average annually.
Online Shopping via Social Media Social Media Statistics
As online shopping statistics grew, social media was not left behind. Shopping online has become so adaptable that even through social media platforms, people can make purchases in real-time.
- Social Media e-commerce became a contending trend in 2022 when it accounted for $992 billion of the total amount spent on online shopping in that year.
- The total amount spent via social media e-commerce is expected to grow to as much as $8.5 trillion in the next six years ( 2030)
- In the United States alone, over 106.8 million people use social media as their primary shopping platform. It is estimated that this number will grow by 10.6% by 2027. This means that over 118 million people in the US will be shopping on social media by 2027.
- Generation Z population of 18 – 24 and the millennials of 25 to 35 years old make up 55% of the online shopping demographic in the United States.
- Overall, China, India, and Thailand combined, have the highest number of live social media e-commerce buyers. The trend often sees close to 10 shoppers engaged in buying and selling in real-time.
- Facebook accounts for 51% of all social media e-commerce. Even though there are other social media platforms where shoppers actively engage in live shopping, a survey has shown that Facebook outpaces them all so far.
- Social media influencing drives up to 40% of all social media e-commerce sales. People are often moved to make purchases after they have seen other users making similar purchases on different social media platforms.
Mobile Online Shopping Statistics
Mobile phone online shopping has become the most common way people make purchases online. Online store now have to Ensure their websites adapt well to mobile phone which have since become the primary way people surf the net.
- People have become very dependent on their mobile devices for all kinds of things and as such, over 91% of online shoppers use their mobile devices to make their purchases.
- It is estimated that the use of mobile devices for online purchases will account for 62% of all online shopping by 2017.
- Purchases made via mobile phones account for $491 billion of the online sales for 2023. This is expected to grow exponentially because of ease of use.
- The projection is that by 2027, mobile device purchases will account for over $856 billion of online sales. This will be close to double what the figure currently stands at.
- Close behind mobile device purchases is Tablet purchases which is expected to fall and account for $54.01 billion of all online purchases by 2026. In previous years, it went as high as $61.08 billion but the use of tablets has since declined.
Online Shopping Consumer Stats
Consumer behaviour is the one factor that often changes the statistics of online shopping over the years. With new trends come new wants and needs that online store have to adapt to to stay relevant. The above notwithstanding, certain factors have remained steady….consumers just want satisfaction and where it is lacking, the stats start to change. Take a look.
- Even though consumers are getting comfortable shopping all kinds of essentials online, over 70% still abandon their carts at checkout due to various reasons.
- Additional fees for shipping cost, taxes and the like are the leading reasons for why up to 47% of online shoppers often abandon their carts at checkout.
- As much as another 25% of online shoppers are deterred by other factors like the need to create an account on the platform. They would rather come in and checkout as guests.
- Online shopping platforms that offer short delivery times get more shoppers because as much as 24% of online shoppers abandon their cart if the delivery duration is lengthy.
- 34% of all online buyers shop for items online at a minimum of once a week