Shoppers around the world depend on the convenience and speed of online shopping. The same convenience and speed also benefits online retailers in reaching a larger audience and making more sales. It even allows some businesses to operate fully online, saving store rent and other operational costs.
Did you know there are an estimated 12-24 million online stores worldwide, with more launching every day? Due to such a crowded market, you need to know the current online shopping statistics to make smart decisions on your business’s next steps.
Without further ado, let’s jump into the online shopping statistics.
- 28% of people ages 25 to 34 years old discover products by seeing ads on social media.
- Likewise, 27% of people in the same age group discover products from recommendations from friends and influencers.
- The number of U.S. social commerce buyers grew 25.2% to 80.1 million in 2020 and is predicted to increase by 12.9% to 90.4 million in 2021.
- In Q2 of 2019, the average online shopping order via social media was $79.01 USD.
- 48% of internet users aged 18 to 34 years old have bought a product from social media.
- And 12% of the same age group make frequent purchases from social media.
- 5% of users are interested in shopping more on social media in the future.
- 79% of people use Amazon as a resource to look for new products, as opposed to 47% using search engines like Google or Safari.
- 52% of shoppers use Amazon to find inspiration for their purchases.
- Globally, Taobao was the most popular online marketplace in 2019, with $538 billion in gross merchandise value.
- In 2019, Amazon was the third most popular marketplace worldwide with $339 billion in gross merchandise value.
- Amazon’s $339 billion GMV made it the leading marketplace in the U.S. in 2019.
- eBay was the second leading marketplace in the U.S.. However, they only had $90 billion in GMV, which was much lower than Amazon’s.
- On a scale of 1-10, sellers in the U.S. rated eBay a 6.5 and Amazon a 5 in terms of product variety and user experience.
- In 2019, there were approximately 2.5 million sellers on Etsy.
- In 2020, there were over 160 million active accounts on eBay.
- 17% of Amazon sellers planned to also sell their products on Walmart’s online marketplace in the near future.
- In 2019, the large majority of consumers (85%) shopped on retailer mobile apps like the Amazon and eBay app, as opposed only 15% using desktop to shop these sites.
- Apple gets 69% of their traffic from mobile visits alone.
- 46% of consumers use mobile devices to look for more information about products before making a purchase.
- While most people browse on mobile devices, the average order value on a desktop is larger than on mobile by $68.
- While the average order amount on a desktop is larger, the average conversion rate is only 2.1%. That’s an entire 1.2% lower than on tablets.
- Online shopping on tablets has a 3.3% conversion rate, which is the highest over desktop and mobile conversion rate!
- 59% of people worry about the security of mobile payments.
- The furniture and appliance eCommerce revenue worldwide is expected to reach 394 billion by 2022.
- The furniture and homeware industry will be worth 54230 million by 2024.
- The eCommerce platform, Wayfair, received $37.64 million in orders in 2019.
- And in 2019, Wayfair had over 20 million active users.
- The retail eCommerce industry is growing every year. In 2021, it’s worth $400 million. And by 2024, retail eCommerce will be worth $476 million.
- The annual apparel eCommerce revenue in U.S. is valued at $99.1 billion in 2021.
- The footwear eCommerce industry alone is worth over $150 million in 2021.
- The total retail sales value in the U.S. in 2020 reached $741.2 billion, a 1.5% increase from a year before.
- It was predicted that in 2020, 58% of holiday purchases would be made online.
- 15% of the U.S. population prepared to shop Thanksgiving sales from the 23rd to the 26th of November 2020.
- The online retail value for Thanksgiving was estimated to reach $5.9 billion.
- Almost half of shoppers (48%) start Christmas shopping before December, while only 3% of shoppers leave last-minute shopping for Christmas eve.
- Popular Christmas gifts include online vouchers, clothing, and toys.
- Online retail sales during holiday seasons are forecasted to grow 35.5% annually.
- 30% of Americans were planning to shop at Cyber Monday sales events in 2020, while 24% planned to shop Black Friday sales.
- On Black Friday, most people searched online for deals on laptops and Nintendo Switches.
- 63% of U.S. shoppers cut their holiday shopping short in 2020 due to concerns about exposure to COVID-19.
- 23% of Americans said they would spend less money on holiday shopping than usual because of fear of not paying bills.
- 30% of Americans said they would try to celebrate Christmas as usual, COVID-19 considered.
- 31% of U.S. citizens report ordering groceries online for the first time since COVID-19 started.
- 9% of people bought something online for the first time in their lives.
- 37% of people expected they would buy more products from online marketplaces because of COVID-19 in 2020.
- 66% of people do research online before making a large purchase (whether online or in-store).
- 43% of consumers bought clothing online between 2019 and 2020.
- Most people (35%) prefer buying electronics online versus in-store.
- 79% of people have bought something from multi-brand platforms like Amazon or eBay in the past year.
- 7% of shoppers say that competitive pricing is their main motivator for choosing online retail stores.
- In 2019, 81% of shoppers were satisfied with the online experience of shopping retail.
- 61% of consumers agree that easy search and navigation is the most important aspect of online shopping.
- Most shoppers (63%) think a good reason for shopping online is that they can get items directly delivered to their home.
- 31% shop online because they believe items cost up to 10% cheaper than when buying in-store.
- Shoppers are 37% more likely to buy books, movies, music, etc., online rather than in-store.
- 59% of shoppers would like to use grab-and-go stores with self-checkout from their phones.
- Almost 40% of shoppers ages 18-34 have bought a product from a social media platform.
- Free next-day shipping would encourage more U.S. shoppers to buy online.
- U.S. retail leaders in the toys and gifts industry would most likely ban serial returners from shopping on their website permanently.
- 35% of consumers prefer to receive coupons from mobile retailers through email.
- Most shoppers who use search engines instead of Amazon or eBay to search for new products are over 55 years old.
- According to 48% of online shoppers, the part of the shopping process that makes them the happiest is seeing their purchase complete and confirmed.
- 77% of consumers prefer getting packages delivered at home.
- Most online shoppers (64%) would like to have their groceries delivered on the same day. However, it’s only happened for 19% of people.
- 53% of people choose regular shipping when checking out in an online store.
- Globally, 75% of people take advantage of buying more items if that means there will be no delivery fee.
- 75% of online buyers say they received excellent delivery service from Amazon.
- 39% of consumers agree that quick delivery is very important.
- In the U.S., 89% of people know about FedEx, 86% know UPS, 82% know USPS, and 56% know DHL.
- While most people know about FedEx, 38% prefer UPS delivery, and only 24% prefer FedEx.
It’s impossible to imagine an online experience without online shopping. With over half of the world’s population actively using the internet, it’s essential that your business provides an online shopping experience to your audience.
Retail eCommerce sales worldwide are expected to more than double between 2018 and 2023, surpassing $6.5 trillion USD in 2023. Online shoppers are willing to spend time reading reviews and researching products to get the best deal possible.
And with 85% of online sales made through mobile devices, as a business owner, you need to optimize your website for mobile.
Online shopping has had a huge spike in sales since the beginning of 2020, resulting in an accelerated three years worth of growth. In the coming years, it’s predicted online shopping will slow down as shopping in-stores is safe again.
However, with the $6 billion in sales online shopping had in 2020, it’s the perfect time to start your online store or crank up your efforts on your existing store.
We hope these 71 online shopping statistics helped you determine the next steps for your online business.
Are you looking for more statistics posts for your business? Read our small business and artifical intelligence statistics articles.
We got all of our statistics from Statista Premium.