(This article was last published on June 15, 20167. We’ve updated it for accuracy and completeness.)
It’s not always easy to find the eCommerce research you’re looking for. We took the time for you to find and compile some of the best eCommerce statistics on the web.
Check out 100 statistics about mobile, marketplaces, shipping, personalization, and more! Use our resource as the one place to find lots of data points to use for whatever purpose you need.
eCommerce Stats
The North American e-commerce market is worth just under $912 billion and is growing at a rate of 13% a year. [3]
The average North American e-shopper spends around $3,500 a year online and e-commerce sales already account for 14% of all retail sales. [3]
US retailers shut 5,994 stores in the first half of 2019 alone, more than in the whole of 2018. [3]
62% of consumers are more comfortable making in-store purchases with digital or contactless payments. [1]
87% of shoppers begin their hunt in digital channels. [4]
64% of shoppers agree or strongly agree that retailers don’t truly know them. [4]
81% belong to one of two shopper segments: Value-driven consumers (41%) who want good value and Purpose-driven consumers (40%) who seek products and services aligned with their values. [12]
Retailers estimate personalization can unlock $2.95 trillion this decade. [15]
Voice commerce will top $40 billion in the U.S. by 2022. [15]
COVID-19 eCommerce Stats
10 years of eCommerce growth happened in just 3 months at the height of the pandemic. [19]
75% of US consumers have tried different stores, websites, or brands during the COVID-19 crisis. [19]
60% of these consumers expect to integrate the new brands and stores in their post-COVID-19 lives. [19]
Consumers spent $861.12 billion online with U.S. merchants in 2020, up an incredible 44.0% year over year. [20]
COVID-19-related boosts in online shopping resulted in an additional $174.87 billion in ecommerce revenue in 2020. [20]
The top 100 retailers (minus Amazon) had a striking 74.1% share of ecommerce growth in 2020, up significantly from a 49.4% share in 2019. [20]
Almost 75% of U.S. businesses have experienced supply chain disruption as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. [21]
Between January 2020 and August 2020, B2B orders placed through ecommerce solutions increased by 44%. [25]
Marketplace Stats
Half of all global ecommerce sales occur on marketplaces. [15]
Nearly $2 trillion are spent annually on the top 100 marketplaces. [15]
Leading global marketplaces 2019 by GMV: Taobao (538B), Tmall (472B), Amazon (339B), JD.com (295B), and eBay (90B). [15]
Amazon dominates the North American market, with 49.1% of eCommerce sales. [3]
Two-thirds (68%) of consumer goods leaders believe customers are more loyal to Amazon than to individual brands. [4]
70% of Amazon searches do not include a brand name. [15]
Nearly 90% of Amazon product views result from search, not branded ads or merchandising. [15]
Online Curated and Subscription Service Stats
The subscription economy grows more than 300% in the last seven years. [16]
Overall, subscription businesses grew revenues about 5 times faster than S&P 500 company revenues and U.S. retail sales from 2012 to 2018. [16]
75% of DTC businesses will offer subscriptions by 2023. [15]
15% of online shoppers receive products on a recurring basis today. [15]
54% of online shoppers have subscribed to a subscription box service. [22]
Top reasons for subscribing to service: personalized experience (28%), convenience (24%), value for money (23%). [22]
Mobile Stats
Mobile accounts for 92% of eCommerce order growth. [4]
In 2019 m-commerce comprised over a quarter of total eCommerce – more than doubling since 2015. [11]
US [mobile purchasing] volume is poised to increase from $128.4 billion in 2019 to $418.9 billion through 2024. [11]
Sustainability and Supporting Independent Businesses
54% of younger consumers who purchase from independent retailers discover brands via social media compared to 43% of middle aged consumers 35-54 and 25% of older consumers 55+. [1]
62% of younger consumers prefer to shop for sustainable and green products compared to 53% of middle aged consumers and 44% for older consumers. [1]
Among millennials and Gen Zers, for instance, 55% are more likely to make a purchase if it’s accompanied by a charitable donation, while 42% of Gen Xers and 31% of baby boomers and traditionalists (the generation before) are influenced by this option. [4]
50% of consumers look for independently owned businesses to support. [1]
57% of consumers are willing to shop at new brands or stores for the first time, demonstrating openness to supporting lesser-known, independent businesses. [1]
Nearly six in 10 consumers surveyed are willing to change their shopping habits to reduce environmental impact. [12]
And for those who say it is very/extremely important, over 70 percent would pay a premium of 35 percent, on average, for brands that are sustainable and environmentally responsible. [12]
73 percent indicate that traceability of products is important to them. [12]
When it comes to purchasing pre-owned, repaired, or renewed products, 70 percent of respondents have tried or would like to try such practices, and 84 percent of those who have tried them plan to continue to do so. [12]
Nearly eight in 10 Gen Z and Millennials have purchased or want to purchase pre-owned products. [12]
As for renting products, nearly 60 percent of those surveyed have tried it or would like to, and 77 percent of those who already do plan on doing it again. [12]
Loyalty Program Stats
78% of consumers in the U.S. say a loyalty program encourages them to buy more from brands. [15]
Companies with strong loyalty marketing programs grow revenues 2.5 times faster than their competitors and generate 100-400% higher returns to shareholders. [23]
Members of top-performing loyalty programs are 77% more likely to choose your brand over the competition. [23]
A 5% increase in customer retention increases profits by 25% to 95%. [23]
64% of companies say their loyalty program is the best way to connect with customers. [23]
Loyal customers spend 67% more than their peers. [23]
eCommerce Shipping, Fulfillment, and Returns Stats
37% of consumers agree that shipping speed influences their purchasing decisions more than it did a year ago. [2]
83% are less likely to re-purchase from a retailer after a negative delivery or shipping experience. [2]
70% say that a negative delivery or shipping experience negatively impacts their impression of the retailer rather than the carrier — even if it’s a result of the carrier’s error. [2]
1 in 3 consumers leave bad reviews or post on social media about a poor delivery experience. [2]
93% agree that when a retailer acknowledges or rectifies a poor delivery experience, they’re more likely to shop with that brand again in the future. [2]
96% agree that fast and honest updates regarding a shipping issue make them less likely to be upset about shipping delays or have a lasting negative perception of the brand. [2]
54% say a retailer’s overall return policy is a major consideration when purchasing online. [2]
Nearly six in 10 of consumers are now willing to switch to a competitor with quicker and cheaper shipping. [4]
The total cost of returns worldwide recently topped $1 trillion. [15]
Packaging / Unboxing
35% of consumers report they view unboxing videos. [13]
55% of those who watch unboxing videos claim the video convinced them to purchase the product. [13]
40% of consumers will share an image of your packaging on social media if it was unique or branded. [13]
50% of shoppers will recommend your product if it came in gift-like or branded packaging. [13]
BOPIS
68% of US consumers have made multiple click-and-collect (Buy Online, Pick Up In Store) purchases. [17]
50% of shoppers said that they’ve decided where to buy online based on whether they could pick their orders up in-store. [17]
Reasons for using BOPIS: saving on shipping costs (48%), speed (39%) and convenience (28%). [17]
85% of shoppers say that they’ve made an additional in-store purchase while picking up an online order, and 15% say that they do so “somewhat frequently.” [17]
Access to “deals or savings on future purchases” is the biggest incentive that shoppers say would cause them to use BOPIS more often, cited by 45% of consumers. [17]
More shoppers are satisfied with mobile than with desktop BOPIS shopping experiences. [18]
Customers are more likely to use the store’s BOPIS service again when items are marked online as available for pickup. [18]
When BOPIS orders are ready in two hours or less, shoppers were more likely to use the service again. [18]
90% of brick-and-mortar retailers will offer BOPIS by 2021. [18]
Supply Chain Statistics
Most warehouse operators are putting their energies into improving order accuracy (97% say this is a moderate or high concern), meeting customers’ needs (97%), speeding up order fulfillment times (89%), and dealing with multiple order fulfillment channels (85%). [14]
68% of companies are paying more for freight transportation than they did in 2018. [14]
57% say they’re paying higher warehousing and distribution inventory costs, while 57% say packaging and materials expenses have risen since 2018. [14]
To address their most pressing fulfillment and distribution challenges, warehouse operators are: working towards enhancing their process capabilities (45%), staffing changes (27%); implementation or upgrading of order fulfillment software applications—including warehouse execution systems or WES (27%); the implementation or upgrading of order fulfillment technologies (24%); and the use of automated goods-to-person picking technologies (20%). [14]
47% of warehouse operators say eCommerce’s biggest impact has been the need to fulfill orders faster and at a lower cost. 42% say it’s dealing with customer expectations around same day/next-day delivery, while 25% point to the need to reduce order processing errors (while improving accuracy) as their primary eCommerce-related challenges. [14]
95% of companies have experienced delays or bottlenecks in their order fulfillment operations in the last year. 45% face issues with order picking and processing, while 37% struggle with inventory management. [14]
There has been $ 1.2 billion in U.S. venture-capital deals in logistics-focused robotics and automation companies since 2015. [14]
In the first half of 2020, ecommerce spurred a blistering 51% increase in large fulfillment center demand. [15]
Demand for 3PLs is set to nearly double to $408 billion in the first half of this decade. [15]
B2B eCommerce Stats
65% of B2B brands plan to invest more in ecommerce. Most B2B leaders expect digital sales to make up over 50% of their business in the next two years. [25]
73% of Millennials are involved in the purchase decision-making. [7]
80% of all B2B buyers will be Millennials by 2023. [24]
33% of B2B buyers turn to Amazon business or Google to being their purchasing journey. [8]
74% of B2B buyers report researching at least half of their work purchases online. [9]
On average, B2B buyers do 12 searches prior to engaging a specific’s brand’s site. [24]
96% of B2B buyers prefer to do business with manufacturers and distributors online. [6]
Amazon Business’s gross sale grew 2.9 faster than total sales for Amazon. [10]
B2B eCommerce is predicted to reach $1.8 trillion and account for 17% of all B2B sales in the U.S. by 2023. [24]
Since they buy in bulk, an average order value of a B2B transaction is around $491, opposed to $147 for B2C. [24]
B2B websites report average conversion rates at 10%, while B2C experiences are around 3%. [24]
Digital Marketing Stats
On average, brands use 39 different systems to manage consumer data. [4]
88% of retail and consumer goods marketers say data helps improve their overall marketing program by allowing them to personalize touchpoints. [4]
AI drives 26% higher average order value. [5]
Less than half (49%) of retail and consumer goods marketers report having a completely unified view of customer data sources.
Overall ad spend is forecast to decline 20% in 2020, digital ad spend is estimated to increase 13%. [15]
In late 2020 paid search spiked 17% and paid social advertising increased 24%. [15]
62% of brands rely on cookies to recognize and target users across channels. [15]
Personalized email campaigns can drive 18 times more revenue. [15]
Sources and Citation Info
Just a reminder, none of these statistics in this blog post are based on nChannel research. We just did the dirty work of finding and compiling the most compelling stats about eCommerce. We hope it can serve as a convenient resource for your own needs.
Feel free to link to this post, but for any formal or academic purposes, please cite the original source of data. Below you’ll find where we found the statistics. Check out these sites for even more data about your specific interests.
- Shopify: Future of Commerce 2021
- ShipStation: Last Touch, Lasting Impact 2021
- PPRO: North America
- Salesforce: eCommerce Trends that are Shaping the Way Businesses Sell Online
- Salesforce: New Data: The Biggest Marketing Trends in Retail and Consumer Goods, According to Nearly 900 Leaders
- Redstage: State of B2B eCommerce Report
- Merit: B2B Report on Millennials
- Digital Commerce 360: How B2B Companies Must Deal with Younger Online Buyers
- Forrester: Make Your B2B Business A Digital Business
- Digital Commerce 360: Amazon Business Grows Faster than Amazon Itself
- Business Insider: Rise of M-Commerce: Mobile Ecommerce Shopping Stats & Trends in 2021
- IBM: Meet the 2020 Consumers Driving Change
- Medium: 8 Surprising Stats about Packaging You Need to Know
- Modern Materials Handling: 2020 eCommerce Challenges, Trends and Solutions
- Shopify Plus: The Future of eCommerce in 2021
- Businesswire: The Subscription Economy Grows More Than 300% In The Last Seven Years
- Business Insider: Almost 70% of US Consumers Use BOPIS
- DigitalCommerce360: BOPIS is the next wave of ecommerce. Are you ready?
- McKinsey: The Quickening
- DigitalCommerce360: US ecommerce grows 44.0% in 2020
- Supply Chain Dive: 44% of supply chain pros have no plan for China supply disruption
- Invesp: The Rise of eCommerce Subscription Model And Services – Statistics and Trends
- Incentive Solutions: Important Loyalty Program Statistics for 2020
- nChannel: 10 Advantages of B2B eCommerce
- Salesfource: B2B Commerce Trends You Weren’t Expecting (but Will Impact Your Business)
