eCommerce Statistics: How Online Retail Reshapes The World

The internet was born on New Year’s Day, 1983, when ARPANET deployed TCP/IP as the communications protocol for distributed computing.

It’s a pretty fair bet that the first online sale was consummated by Valentine’s Day, just six weeks later.

It wasn’t until the installed base of smartphones hit critical mass, however, that the eCommerce industry truly exploded. The unprecedented rise of mobile devices worldwide has disrupted the shopping habits of an entire civilization. The smartphone’s convenience, speed, and ease of access have proved irresistible to consumers around the globe.

Key eCommerce Statistics for 2025 - Editor’s Choice

• Worldwide eCommerce sales have reached a record-breaking $6 trillion in 2024.
• Nearly 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned before checkout.
• 55% of U.S. consumers don’t trust the companies they’re buying from as much as they used to.
• China is the biggest eCommerce market, with $672 billion in online sales.
• It is estimated that 95% of all purchases will be made online by 2040.

2.7 billion people have used online solutions for buying goods and services in 2024. 

(Oberlo)

This represented a 2.7% growth compared to the year before, and the rise is expected to continue this year, reaching 2.77 billion shoppers by the end of 2025.

With $620.12 billion in revenue in 2024 alone, Amazon is the largest eCommerce retailer in the world.

(Macrotrends)

The San Francisco-based online shopping giant generates the highest revenue among all the world's eCommerce platforms, with more than 300 million active users in 2024.

Consumers say their main motivation for shopping online is the ability to shop 24/7.

(KPMG)

Current data shows that the number-one reason people choose online shopping over brick-and-mortar stores is the ability to shop at any time of the day or night. A global survey of 18,430 consumers shows that being able to compare prices, save time, and choose from a wider variety of products and services are also top motivators for digital buyers. 

It's estimated that global eCommerce sales have reached a record-breaking $6 trillion in 2024. 

(eMarketer)

This represented a large, 8.4% increase compared to the year before.

Some 70.19% of online shopping carts were abandoned before checkout in 2024.

(Sellers Commerce)

 The number is 3.1% larger than a decade before, and keeps steadily but slightly increasing year over year.

About $260 billion in lost eCommerce sales could be recovered through checkout optimization.

(Baymard Institute)

Research on cart abandonment shows that large online retailers can increase conversion rates by up to 35.26% just by offering a better checkout design. This suggests that consumers reward a high-quality user experience with higher sales.

50.5% of US consumers would like to see at least three product photos before purchasing.

(Splashlight)

Customers value both the quantity and the quality of product visuals. More than a quarter of consumers would like to see a minimum of 6 photos showing front, back, side, 360-degree, and close-up perspectives of the product. 

79% of US customers say that free shipping would make them more likely to make a purchase online.

(Walker Sands)

Fast shipping positively affects consumer purchases across all online retail channels. This report reveals that 42% of respondents said that same-day shipping would make them decide to make an online purchase. 

American consumers spent as much as $10.8 billion on online shopping during Black Friday 2024. 

(Adobe)

That’s a 10.2% increase compared to the previous year, which cements the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend as the new biggest shopping holiday. 

Some 25.3% of the total retail sales in China happened online in 2024.

(CSA)

Food products saw the largest increase in online sales, with a 17.8% increase compared to the year before.

It is estimated that 95% of all purchases will be made online by 2040.

(Nasdaq)

The portion of eCommerce sales made using smartphones and tablets will continue to rapidly grow in the next years.

More than 80% of US consumers say that Instagram helps them decide whether they want to make a purchase.

(Facebook Business)

Facebook says 83% of people use its Instagram service to discover new products or services, and that 81% of them do product research on the platform.

About 81% of American citizens are online shoppers in 2024.

(Pew Research)

In 2025, the number of shoppers in the US is projected to increase to 284.60 million.

55% of US consumers don’t trust the companies they’re buying from as much as they used to.

(HubSpot Research)

The trust between businesses and customers has eroded. People are now inclined to turn to friends and family for shopping advice. Most say they do not trust advertisements and sponsored content on social media networks. 

67% of customers are willing to switch to a different brand because of a single bad customer experience.

(Forbes)

The global eCommerce industry is rapidly shifting toward customer service as the most important factor for any type of business or a brand. Considering the abundance of online retailers, it is no surprise that the percentage of consumers willing to switch brands due to poor customer support is growing rapidly.

eCommerce sales represented 20.1% of all retail sales worldwide in 2024.

(eMarketer)

This represented a 9.4% growth year over year.

At 49%, debit cards were the most popular payment method for shopping online in the US in 2024.

(Paysafe)

Credit cards easily came in second at 28%, and bank transfers followed in third place with 17% of online payments.

China is the biggest eCommerce market, with $3.19 trillion in online sales in 2024.

(Sellers Commerce)

The United States came in second last year with $1.22 trillion, while the United Kingdom comes far behind in the third place with $195.7 billion.

85% of consumers in 2024 compared product prices on their smartphones while visiting physical stores.

(KPMG)

People are becoming much more informed now that smartphones are so widely used and the internet is accessible almost everywhere. It’s hard to get away with higher prices, strict return policies, and poor service.

Losing customers over such issues represents a big issue for businesses - especially since researchers say shoppers are increasingly unlikely to give retailers a second chance.

85% of consumers research products online before making a purchase.

(Salesforce)

Most - 74% - of consumers’ research efforts take place at company websites. Other popular options are email (43%) and social media (38%).

As of 2022, about 2.3% of visits to US eCommerce websites turn into purchases.

(Statista)

The number has remained steady for the last five years, going up or down slightly each year.

If page-load times on mobile are three seconds, 53% of users are likely to bounce from the website.

(Think with Google)

Loading speeds are incredibly important for eCommerce websites, and every second greatly affects user bounce rates. In fact, if your load times go from 1s to 5s, the bounce rates increase by 90%, and if they reach 10s, the rate will jump by 123%. 

About 59% of millennial consumers check Amazon before other eCommerce services.

(KPMG)

As millennials and members of Gen Z become the main consumers in the U.S., shopping habits and venues will evolve. This is evident in the case of Amazon, where 9% of millennials have already made a purchase. Gen Z consumers are right behind them at 62%.

Amazon Prime has attracted more than 200 million users globally.

(Observer)

Amazon’s subscription-based service has been a huge success. It has garnered the attention of shoppers and gamers, and in the process, massively increased Amazon’s annual sales. The eCommerce giant’s offer of faster shipping and attractive promotions has seen an increase from 20 million to 200 million users in just a few years.

It's estimated that global mobile retail eCommerce sales reached $2.07 trillion by the end of 2024.

(Shopify)

This is up from $1.71 trillion the year before.

86% of American citizens would like to receive promotional emails at least once per month.

(Marketing Sherpa)

Email is an incredibly useful eCommerce tool for keeping customers aware of new products and promotional deals that are available with your business. In fact, 15% of the U.S. residents surveyed in this study said they would like to receive promotional emails on a daily basis, while 60% of them say once a week is better.

80% of consumers would stop doing business with a company because of a poor customer support experience.

(HubSpot Research)

Consumers want to get help as fast as possible, to be contacted by friendly and helpful staff, and to have their issues resolved with a sense of urgency. If online sales sites don’t provide sufficiently good support services, it is likely that they will lose potentially faithful customers to the competition.

Global holiday retail sales reached $1.2 trillion in 2024.

(Yahoo!)

The sales were up 3% year-on-year.

94% of consumers watch videos explaining a product, and 84% get convinced to make the purchase.

(HubSpot Research)

Video marketing has quickly become key to successful eCommerce sales. Perhaps that’s why 87% of marketers report positive returns when using video. Research on global trends reveals that 91% of marketers believe it is now more important for brands than ever before.

On average, men spend 68% more on eCommerce purchases than women.

(KPMG)

Data on the demographics of online shoppers indicates that both sexes make purchases at about the same rate. However, male shoppers spend substantially more money. This can be attributed to the fact that male shoppers dominate the markets for expensive products like luxury goods and electronics. In fact, 72% of all electronics purchases are made by men.

Baby Boomers spend an average of $203 per online transaction, more than any other generation.

(KPMG)

Older generations make up a big percentage of retail sales online, in some regards even outpacing younger shoppers. Baby Boomers are the most likely to spend money on healthcare products, household appliances, and wine - products that have higher prices.

48% of consumers abandon their shopping carts due to high “extra” costs like shipping and other fees.

(Baymard Institute)

About 24% of digital shoppers immediately abandon their shopping carts if the website demands that they create an account before shopping. 18% say they leave the page if they face an overly complicated and lengthy checkout process.

85.6% of US consumers expected shipping to be free on orders under $50 in 2024.

(Contimod)

More consumers than ever expect free shipment of their orders, with 66% of the respondents saying that they expect free shipping on all of their online purchases.

75% of online grocery shoppers keep purchasing products from the first store they try.

(Think with Google)

U.S. online grocery shopping is strangely lagging behind other economies and eCommerce markets like the U.K. and South Korea, where customers already buy over 10% of their groceries online. Only 2% of groceries in the United States are purchased online, but the market is set for a huge expansion, especially now that Amazon has bought Whole Foods.

30% of consumers valued same-day delivery the most when it comes to their online purchases in 2024.

(Contimod)

In the same manner, 36% of customers value next-day delivery.

78% of eCommerce brands have either implemented or planned to implement AI in their stores in 2024.

(Big Sur AI)

 What's more, 65% of organizations said that they expected AI to grow within their companies in the next few years.

Final Words

Online shopping is more than an emerging industry. It is already one of the most important ways for large and small business to reach customers. If market projections are to be believed, digital shopping will only continue to grow more important. Technical innovations like drone-based delivery systems and autonomous vehicles will accelerate the trend.

Consumers are pushing both the smallest and the biggest online retailers to offer better service and more generous offers. Today’s customer has more power than any in history, and the power is growing as the number of online shoppers increases