Future of the eCommerce Industry Statistics
Wouldn’t eCommerce be so much easier to navigate if we could just know what the future is going to be like? After all, the rather unpredictable and volatile nature of the eCommerce world is what makes it a challenging environment for many businesses; and knowing what the future has in store for eCommerce would greatly simplify things for everyone.
Well, the good news is, that is possible.
We have compiled the top eCommerce industry statistics that will help you understand not only the current standing of the eCommerce world, but offer an insight into what the future is predicted to look like for the industry.
Ready to get right into it? Then keep reading.
Content
- eCommerce Industry Statistics to Understand the Present
- eCommerce Industry Statistics for the Future
- Conclusion
eCommerce Industry Statistics to Understand the Present
If you want to work on your eCommerce journey, the best place to begin is by understanding the present. These top 5 eCommerce industry statistics will help you understand the industry like never before!
There are over 26 million eCommerce all over the world currently. (Thrive My Way)
For starters, it means that the eCommerce world is really, really big. But we knew that already. So, the most important thing that this stat tells us is that the eCommerce world is very competitive. 26 million stores all over the world means that there is a diverse range of options available to the customer and hence, there is more competition for you to work your way around.
Needless to say, there are new eCommerce sites popping up every single day, which means that the number of online stores all over the world also increases on a daily basis. With this, it becomes imperative for you to understand that whatever you offer your customers, chances are that there are many other businesses who do the same.
As long as you completely understand the competition eCommerce presents, you will be well-equipped to deal with it as well.
The average consumer makes at least 19 online transactions per year. (Digital in the Round)
eCommerce is lucrative. No matter who you are, where you are, and what it is that you want to buy, humans of today engage in eCommerce activity like it’s second nature. Even where they don’t want to buy online, they will still look up prices on the web and compare products.
Luckily, this means that you get a plethora of opportunities to reel in your customers and impress them with what your brand has to offer. This also means that if you start establishing your eCommerce journey now, you can easily tap into all the goodness this market offers and hence accelerate your way towards success.
Partly, understanding eCommerce means understanding that it is a fast-paced, highly engaging environment. While in most instances this means additional responsibility for you, it also means that your business gets a genuine shot at developing in the direction you want it to develop in.
With the average conversion rates of 5.5%, the highest converting eCommerce vertical is the food and beverage segment. (Statista)
If you are just thinking about joining the eCommerce industry and don’t know particularly which niche you should dabble in, consider the food and beverage industry. The food and beverage industry gives you the chance to be a part of the highest converting segment of eCommerce, and hence will start off your eCommerce venture in just the right way.
However, you must also keep in mind that not all is sunshine and rainbows when it comes to the food and beverage industry. It may be lucrative, but it is also high-risk and high-effort.
The more this segment evolves, the better your eCommerce fulfilment has to be. There is an increasing demand for shipping traceability, the ever-present need to comply with regulations, and the pressure to maintain seamless communication with food supply chain partners.
Across all industries, 74% have reportedly experienced a shortage of critical parts and materials across all industries. (McKinsey and Co)
Again, inventory management problems don’t always mean that there is something wrong with what you are doing. Sometimes, external factors like shortages also play a part in deciding the trajectory of your inventory management processes. And this is something that, as shown by this particular stat, is not pertinent to one industry or the other. It applies to all industries, and hence every business out there must know how hard it is to stock up on the right critical parts and materials to maintain the optimal inventory levels.
The food and beverage industry is the perfect example of the fact that although eCommerce is rewarding, it is no walk in the park and you need to make proper investments if you are planning on achieving success in this particular industry.
There are over 2.14 billion digital buyers all over the world. (Statista)
And this number increases every single day! As eCommerce grows and evolves, it is bound to attract even more people. As we will see in the “future” section of this blog, this means that eCommerce will soon become the biggest retail market in the world.
However, again, this also means that there is a growing pressure on you. 2.14 billion digital buyers out there – which means that your target audience, no matter how niche your brand is, is likely to be extremely diverse. Even if they have the same socio-economic status, their preferences will obviously differ and as a business, it more or less becomes your job to cater to them, which is not easy to do!
Therefore, as the world of eCommerce evolves, so should you – but more of that later.
More than 50% of consumers use a smartphone for shopping. (Thrive My Way)
Smartphones are no longer only for communicating with friends and family – they are an integral part of our lives and help us in many ways. Increasingly, they are also becoming a means for eCommerce activity.
Needless to say, this means that businesses will really benefit from optimising their eCommerce processes for mobile. A mobile-optimised eCommerce strategy will make it convenient for your customers to engage with you, which is obviously going to be beneficial for you in many ways.
Not only that, but using smartphones for online shopping has given way to the birth of m-commerce. M-commerce refers to the buying and selling of goods and services via your mobile phones. Apart from convenience, some other benefits of m-commerce include better location tracking, multi-factor authentication, streamline, secure, and scalable digital commerce transactions.
Obviously, this is something that will develop further in the future – but currently, it is safe to say that mobile phones are becoming an important part of the world of eCommerce as they have considerably much more to offer than one would expect.
eCommerce Industry Statistics for the Future
Enough of the present – what should we expect from the future of the eCommerce industry? Let’s have a look into the insights that will give us a better idea:
In 2023, eCommerce is all set to make up for almost 22% of all retail sales globally and is projected to exceed the $6 trillion mark in sales. (Thrive My Way)
Due to the pandemic, eCommerce sales really surged up and the industry took a front seat in our lives. However, most thought this dependence on eCommerce will not persist past the pandemic. We were wrong!
As we can tell from the stat, eCommerce is only going to get bigger and better with each passing year. In 2020, eCommerce sales hit the $4 trillion mark. And next year, in 2023, after almost 3 years of the pandemic, eCommerce sales are projected to exceed the $6 trillion mark.
That is a 50% increase from the pandemic times – so, if anything, eCommerce has only become even more important and convenient for human beings and is definitely here to stay.
By 2040, it is predicted that eCommerce will account for more than 95% of all purchases. (Thrive My Way)
Today, there are still a lot of people who prefer physical stores and would pick brick-and-mortar shopping over online shopping. And honestly? We get it. There is no guarantee that you’re going to get the right product when you shop online, so physical shopping is still a thing.
However, as the eCommerce industry evolves and better itself, chances are that physical shopping will really, really take the backseat. At least as far as projections are concerned, almost all retail sales will take place online, via eCommerce sites and apps!
Therefore, our suggestion to any and all businesses is that now is the time to really start focusing on your eCommerce strategy. If the projections are true and in the next 20 or so years all sales will be made via eCommerce, then now is the time to start working on your venture and make it an established part of the eCommerce world.
43% of consumers prefer companies that provide a personalised shopping experience. (Outgrow)
There is only one way to deal with the growing needs of customers: a personalised shopping experience. Remember how we mentioned that the shopping experience you provide as an eCommerce business really needs to take into regard the different characteristics and preferences of your target audience? Providing a personalised shopping experience can help you do just that, which is why you need to start investing in it straight away.
Not only that, but there are many other benefits that you can open yourself to by introducing personalised shopping experiences into the picture. A personalised shopping experience helps you build brand loyalty, boost customer satisfaction, and makes your business memorable for everyone involved. If the customer experience takes into regard the unique tastes and preferences of each customer, it automatically becomes more meaningful and hence, worth investing in.
So, if you hadn’t thought about delivering tailored messages, offers, and products to each person before this, now is the time to do so as it will only help you massively improve your image as a brand, and provide better, more meaningful experience to the customers – which is going to be your key to success as an eCommerce business in the future.
Businesses can save as much as 30 percent in customer support costs with the help of AI. (Outgrow)
AI really is the future – this is something that you need to understand as soon as you can. The sooner you integrate your business with AI, the sooner you can start cashing in on the perks that it provides. This stat talks about how AI can help you cut back on customer support costs, but there are many other benefits that the integration of AI into your operations can also provide you with.
Because it automates everything and really brings data to the centre of your processes, it enables smart decision making, enhanced customer experience, and solving complex problems. Not only that, but it also allows for better research and analysis, which can help you for the purposes of forecasting and in general, help you make the right decisions for your business.
Needless to say, AI can really improve the eCommerce experience to a great extent, which is why we advise you to integrate it into your operations straight away.
65% of customers expect to increase their usage of digital shopping channels in the future. (Outgrow)
If you thought customers had had enough of digital shopping channels, this stat will surely make you do a double take! In the future, at least 65% of customers are expected to increase their usage of digital shopping channels.
Hence, the advice in this regard is to prepare for it! Prepare your eCommerce activity for digital shopping channels. The best way to do that is to set up your shops straight away, and then just gradually work on making them better and more fit for today’s competitive eCommerce environment.
This way, you won’t be caught off-guard when people actually start using eCommerce channels more, and you can just ease yourself into that transition without it taking much of a noticeable toll on your business.
Summing it Up
The eCommerce world is pretty big already, but it is constantly evolving. However, there is no need to be overwhelmed by it. The eCommerce industry statistics we have shared today will help you evolve as the industry evolves, and become the best version of itself.
On that note – what if we told you that you can make your eCommerce journey 100 times better with an eCommerce fulfilment software. That’s right; an eCommerce fulfilment software can help you wholly automate and streamline your processes, and hence make it easier for you to grow and keep pace with the development of the eCommerce industry.
Interested? Reach out to our experts today and get started on your eCommerce journey with the world’s best eCommerce fulfilment software, i.e. Canary7.
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