E-commerce has been a fast-growing industry for a long time now, but many are unaware of how vast and significant this growth is. What are the exact numbers? What does it all mean? What can you expect in the future?
This article will show you all the relevant numbers and everything of importance that has happened to the industry, in an attempt to adequately present the enormous global growth of e-commerce and what that means for your business.
Development in the Past Few Years and Future Trends
The best way to view the actual growth of the e-commerce industry is through the sales made globally. Here are some impressive numbers from Statista. The overall e-commerce sales growth rate has been on the decline since 2014 onwards. However, since it has been above 20% every single year, we can easily say that the growth of e-commerce has not been staggering in the past five years. Far from it.
As for 2019 and the next two years, the overall numbers are going to drop below the 20% mark which is expected with such consistently high growth. In 2019 the growth rate of e-commerce sales is going to be 21.5%, while in 2020 it will be 19.88% and in 2021 18%.
Percentages might not mean a lot to some, but the numbers certainly do. Worldwide e-commerce sales have amounted to $2.8 trillion in 2018, and they are set to reach $4.9 trillion in 2021. That’s what a growth rate of 20% every year means.
These numbers are clearly showing that the growth is not going to slow down by much, and the industry is assuredly set for world domination. It is quite clear in companies like Amazon, which has been aiming to sell everything through its online platform. A similar thing can be said about Alibaba, Amazon’s Eastern brother that has been the dominant e-commerce company in Asia with its AliExpress platform.
The e-Commerce Dominance
At the moment, e-commerce share of total global retails sales is 13.7%. That number is set to be 17.5% in 2021, which should make e-commerce the most significant retail channel in the world. That means that that e-commerce sales will outpace sales in global supermarkets, other smaller grocers, and the traditional fashion industry, to name a few.
Such growth is mainly coming from the ease of buying online. Any person in the world can purchase through an e-commerce store on their phone, and smartphones have been an enormous influence on the growth of e-commerce. At the end of 2018, around 70% of all e-commerce traffic occurred through phones. The percentage is only set to increase as mobile e-commerce is growing much faster than computer e-commerce.
What Does All of That Mean for You?
The rise of e-commerce has not occurred only because of the biggest online retailers in the world, but also due to the millions of other smaller companies with an efficient online store.
It doesn’t matter where you’re located – with an active online store, you can sell anywhere, and you should. You will benefit significantly from a centralized system through which you can operate your entire web presence, a system like the one made by DG1. Take a look at what we’re offering for your business and get started whenever you want.
Tags: e-commerce, global growth, future trends, forbes, amazon, alibaba
