E-commerce: A $6 Trillion Industry and Growing

With e-commerce poised to reach $8 trillion by 2027, the latest statistics provide a fascinating look into its rapid growth and evolving dynamics. Here’s a snapshot of what’s shaping this booming industry in 2024 and beyond:

Key Insights for 2024

Massive Consumer Base: Over 2.71 billion people shop online, representing 33% of the global population. By 2025, this number is expected to climb to 2.77 billion.

Rising Market Share: Online retail now accounts for 20.1% of global retail purchases, projected to rise to 22.6% by 2027.

Revenue Growth: Global e-commerce sales are set to surpass $6.3 trillion in 2024, with a CAGR of 7.8%, reflecting increasing profitability compared to physical stores.

New Players: 1.6 million e-commerce websites were launched in the first 10 months of 2024 alone.

Global Trends

China’s Lead: With 915 million online shoppers, China remains the frontrunner, achieving a 9.8% growth in sales during H1 2024.

The United States retail eCommerce sales stand at $579 billion as of the first half of 2024. US eCommerce sales accounted for $291.6 billion in the second quarter of 2024, This is an increase of 0.82% from the previous quarter and a 6.8% increase compared to the same quarter last year. This puts the total ecommerce sales in the country to $579.45 billion as of the first half of 2024. Experts predict the sales to reach $1.26 trillion by the end of the year and $1.72 trillion by 2027. By then, online sales will make up about 22.6% of total US retail sales.

Ecommerce sales in the United States have been steadily increasing for over a decade, hitting a record high of $1.12 trillion in 2023. That is a 330% increase from $260.4 billion in 2013.The pandemic in 2020 significantly boosted online sales in the country. Sales worth $159.8 billion were recorded in the first quarter of 2020, and jumped to $213.3 billion in the second quarter — a 33.5% increase. This surge accelerated the shift to online shopping by about five years. (Source: United States Census Bureau.?)

There are over 27.2 million eCommerce sites globally

As of 2024, There are 27.2 million eCommerce sites worldwide marking a 6.16% increase from the previous year. This means 2,685 eCommerce websites started each day between 2023 and 2024.

The United States is home to 50% of all the eCommerce sites worldwide.

The majority of online stores are powered by Shopify and Wix with each powering 19.55% and 13.56% of stores respectively.

Category Highlights

Electronics dominate consumer spending with $922.5 billion expected in 2024, followed by fashion ($760 billion) and food & beverages ($708.8 billion).

Social Commerce Statistics

With 5 billion social media users across the globe, social media platforms are great for eCommerce. The Facebook marketplace has been there for a while now and manages to make a significant amount of sales. But new entries like TikTok shop too are making a notable number of transactions.

This shows how people are shifting towards social media to shop! Let’s shed light on social commerce in this section.

Social commerce is worth $1.69 trillion as of 2024

That is a massive 30.81% increase since the previous year. We see no end to this trend with experts predicting it to be a $2.9 trillion industry by 2026.

As per Statista’s reports, the social commerce sector will grow at a CAGR of 29% from 2022 to 2030 reaching the $8.5 trillion mark by the end of the forecast period.

Source: Statista.

Facebook and Instagram are the most preferred platforms for social commerce

67.8 million people from the United States are expected to shop on Facebook in 2024 making it the most popular social media for social commerce. That’s 20% of the country’s population shopping on the platform! Instagram is also favored by 45.3 million shoppers while TikTok is not far behind with 35.8 million expected shoppers. Pinterest is also emerging as a dark horse in this race of social commerce with 17.5 million people expected to shop on the platform this year

Ecommerce is here to stay and will only get bigger as the years pass by. Smartphone and internet penetration along with a growing supply chain has made online shopping possible for people in all corners of the world. With $8 trillion in projected eCommerce sales by 2027, digital commerce is no longer optional—it’s essential. Businesses must embrace online strategies, optimize user experiences, and adapt to evolving consumer habits to stay ahead in this competitive market.

Source: This article is based on data from SellersCommerce.