Global Ecommerce Statistics by 10 Different Criteria (2019 to 2020)

Here are some e-commerce statistics, organized by ten different criteria, that will help you understand where e-commerce is heading.

E-commerce was already growing rapidly, but the COVID-19 pandemic has given e-commerce an extra boost. By 2040 we’ll be making 95% of purchases online, according to the latest forecasts.

The growth of e-commerce presents huge opportunities for entrepreneurs, both large and small.

A key to succeeding with e-commerce is understanding the trends that are shaping online shopping, online consumer behavior, and the emerging e-commerce markets.

1. Growth in E-commerce (US)

The USA is the world’s largest economy, and it’s also the country that pioneered online shopping, producing e-commerce giants, such as eBay and Amazon. So it’s worth paying close attention to the e-commerce trends in the United States:

Consumers spent $601.75 billion online with U.S. merchants in 2019, which is up 14.9% in 2018 (Source).
By 2021, 53.9% of all US retail ecommerce is expected to be generated through mcommerce (Source).
The eCommerce industry is growing 23% year-over-year, yet 46% of American small businesses still don’t have a website (Source).
46% of American businesses still do not have a website (Source).
Only 8% of total retail sales in the USA derive from online sales (Source).
61% of online consumers in the United States have made a purchase based on recommendations from a blog (Source).
Amazon alone represented more than a third—36.9%—of all U.S. ecommerce sales in 2019 (Source).
On average, two in five US consumers (41%) receive one to two packages from Amazon per week (Source).
In 2019, 83.5 percent of the American population purchased goods online (Source).

2. Growth in Ecommerce – Global

While the US had traditionally led the way in ecommerce, as a market it’s being overtaken by emerging in Asia and elsewhere. Here are some global trends in ecommerce:

In 2019, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 3.53 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 6.54 trillion US dollars in 2022 (Source).

By the year 2021, worldwide retail ecommerce sales will reach $4.9 trillion (Source)
By the year 2040, it’s estimated that 95% of all purchases will be through eCommerce (Source)

In 2020, ecommerce sales are expected to account for 15.5 percent of retail sales worldwide (Source)
It’s estimated that there will be 2.05 billion global digital buyers in 2020 (Source)
Worldwide, the share of mcommerce in all ecommerce is expected to rise to 72.9% by 2021 (Source)
Ecommerce retail sales accounted for 14.1% of global retail sales in 2019 (Source)

3. Largest Ecommerce Markets

The center of gravity for ecommerce is shifting to the East: two of the top three biggest ecommerce markets are now in Asia:

China – $636.09 billion
USA – $504.58 billion
Japan – $104.04 billion
UK – $86.45 billion
Germany – $70.35 billion

(Source)

4. Emerging Ecommerce Markets

Fast growing e-commerce markets, measured by CAGR growth 2018 – 2022:

India – 19.8%
Malaysia – 17.6%
Indonesia – 16.6%
Philippines – 15.2%
Vietnam – 13.5%

(Source)

5. Largest Ecommerce Companies, by Revenue (2019)

Contrary to what you might think, Amazon is not the largest e-commerce company. Here are the top ranking e-commerce websites based on GMV (Gross Merchandise Value):

Alibaba – >$768 billion
Amazon – $239 billion
JD.com – $215 billion
eBay – $93 billion
Shopify – $33 billion
Rakuten – >$31 billion
Walmart – >$19 billion

(Source)

Largest Ecommerce Companies, by Revenue (2019)

6. Number of Online Shoppers (by Country)

Number of online shoppers, by country:

China – 1 billion
India – 360.1 million
USA – 258.5 million
Indonesia – 107 million
Japan – 89.9 million

(Source)

7. Consumer Behavior

85 percent of consumers conduct online research before making a purchase online (Source)
65 percent of shoppers look up price comparisons on their mobile device while in a physical store (Source)