UPDATED AUGUST 2020 

Ecommerce will be the largest retail channel in the world in just two years, according to projections.

People aren’t just shopping online. Ecommerce statistics say they’re spending more in online stores than physical stores for the first time in history. Statista forecasts that consumers worldwide will spend up to $4.8 trillion online in 2023.

Here are 5 ecommerce statistics you need to read today

1. Over 204 million people ages 14 and older will make an online purchase in 2020, with more than 5 million users buying online for the first time this year (Emarketer)
2. Estimates say that consumers will make 95% of purchases online by 2040 (Nasdaq)
3. 72% of eCommerce will take place on a mobile device by 2021 (Statista)
4. 87% of shoppers today use ecommerce reviews to decide whether to buy, and 77% of those shoppers buy online (Business.com)
5. 31% of US internet users ages 16 to 64 say they will shop online more after the pandemic ends, and 30% expect to visit brick and mortar stores less (Emarketer)

So, why has there been such a major increase in online retail and ecommerce activity?

Simplicity. Shopping online has become more meaningful, convenient, and practical.

Small business owners are rushing to take advantage of this explosion. Simple and powerful ecommerce platforms like Selz have made it easier than ever before and businesses are selling online from their blogs, websites, and online stores.

Consumers have the power to buy eBooks, clothing, and more from all over the world from their tablets, smartphones, and computers. They can also collect feedback from other customers all over the world.

With a few clicks of a button, consumers can have quality goods and services delivered straight to their door or downloaded instantaneously.

With this power to connect, many consumers are looking to buy from small, genuine companies, which is a huge benefit to you. By starting an online store, you allow people all over the world to find your business, not just locals in your neighborhood.

Because most business owners base their decisions on data, we thought you might enjoy a list of the most important online shopping and ecommerce statistics.

Use these numbers to decide what products to sell, where to sell, and how selling online can benefit your growing business.

40 Powerful Online Shopping and Ecommerce Statistics

General Ecommerce Statistics

6. Experts expect global ecommerce sales to double between 2018 and 2023, breaking the $6 trillion mark (Statista)

7. 75% of online shoppers want more companies to have the same level of service as Amazon does (Wunderman Thompson)

8. Black Friday shopping at brick and mortar stores dropped by 6% in 2019, and over $9.4 billion in online sales happened on Cyber Monday. Small Business Saturday saw an 18% increase in sales. (CNBC)

9. 51% of businesses have increased online interactions with their clients since March 2020 (Facebook)

10. 55% of U.S. customers who shop online say that free shipping is the most important checkout option (UPS)

US Ecommerce Statistics

11. People spend more money online on Monday in the US than any other day of the week (SaleCycle)

12. Projections say there will be 300 million digital shoppers in the United States in 2023 (Statista)

13. 77% of US small businesses use social media for key business transactions like sales, customer service, and marketing (PR Newswire)

14. 55% of shoppers consider the ethics and morals of a brand before they make a purchase (Wunderman Thompson)

15. 61 percent claim that how a brand responds during the pandemic will have a large impact on whether they continue buying later (Wunderman Thompson)

16. 79% of U.S. online shoppers said free shipping would get them to buy online (Walker Sands)

17. Websites with more than three seconds of loading time lose 40% of their initial website visitors (Forbes)

UK and EU Ecommerce Statistics

18. 51% of consumers in the UK say that they prefer to shop online (Ecommerce News UK)

19. Online shoppers in the UK use the internet for 87% of their retail purchases (Ecommerce News EU)

20. 57% of online shoppers say they’ve bought something from a retailer overseas. (Nielsen)

Marketing and Social Media Ecommerce Statistics

21. 60% of people purchased a product after reading a blog post about it (Ryan Robinson)

22. 18% of local searches lead to a sale within 24 hours. (Researchgate)

23. 85% of customers start a purchase on one device and finish on another device. (Think with Google)

24. Facebook still shows the most powerful social media ecommerce statistics, and according to platform data, 98% of online shopping research and purchases take place on mobile devices (Facebook)

25. 65% of senior executives visit the website after seeing a related YouTube video. (HubSpot)

26. The average shopping conversion rate for Google Ads is 1.91% and 1.74% for Bing Ads. (Wordstream)

27. 75% of customers pay attention to retargeting ads (Invesp)

28. 72% of millennial shoppers are fine with retargeting (Neil Patel)

Voice Search, Text, and Mobile Online Shopping Statistics

29. Mobile shopping is booming, and leapt from 8% to 15% in 2019, while shopping on desktop dropped from 78% to 63%. (Invesp)

30. Small businesses may see up to 30% higher mobile conversion rates than large retailers. (Practical Ecommerce)

31. 70% of ecommerce sites have a poor or mediocre Credit Card Form user experience (Baymard)

32. 27% of shoppers use or have used voice search with an assistant like Siri or Alexa (Wunderman Thompson)

33. 98% of all SMS text marketing messages are opened (Search Engine Journal)

34. Voice searches are more than 20% of searches in the Google App (Social Media Today)

35. Apps on mobile devices have 3x higher conversion than mobile websites  (Search Engine Land)

36. 69% of smartphone users are more likely to purchase from ecommerce sites that give easy answers to their questions or concerns (Blue Corona) 

Shopping Cart Abandonment Ecommerce Statistics

37. According to ongoing research by the Baymard Institute, 69.57% of customers abandon their online shopping carts (Baymard)

38. 22% of online shoppers abandon carts because of unexpected costs during the checkout process (Small Biz Trends)

39. The abandonment rate for mobile shopping carts is 85.6% (Barilliance)

40. 84.27% of website visitors abandoned a purchase in 2019 (Cloudfront)

5 Bonus Small Business Ecommerce Statistics

41. 43% of American shoppers are more likely to buy from companies that personalize their services (Marketing Dive)

42. 89% of B2B buyers search online when they have to make a purchase (Researchgate)

43. 87% of small businesses surveyed feel that the pandemic has made digital marketing and ecommerce more urgent (InformaConnect)

44. 34% of small businesses surveyed created a new product or service in response to the pandemic (InformaConnect)

45. 55 percent of consumers reported turning to brands they trust during lockdown (McKinsey)

Looking for more ecommerce statistics? Check out this article full of Facebook stats.

Looking for more ecommerce news? Read this for weekly updates.

This post was originally published in August 2015 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.