E-commerce is one of the most profitable business channels in the modern age. As it doesn’t require any physical location, it has minimal overhead costs and requires fewer staff members. You just need a good website and technology team to build a site, update it and integrate it with top payment gateway solutions.

If you already have a brick-and-mortar shop, adding e-commerce as part of your business will allow you to reach more number of customers. And that too at a fraction of the price that you’ll spend on paid advertisements. This industry has enjoyed rapid growth in the past few years,and it seems like it isn’t stopping any time soon.

Another reason why the e-commerce industry is booming is because of consumer demand. With 56% of the world having access to the internet, customers prefer online shopping as it is a more convenient option than going outside to purchase from a store.

Interesting facts of the global e-commerce market
The facts about global e-commerce are not not interesting but also insightful. The facts will speak from themselves:

• As of July 2019, over 4.33 billion people were active internet users. This number represents approximately 56% of the global population.
• The global retail market sales amounted to $23.956 trillion in 2018. As per the data it is estimated that in 2019, the global retail market will reach up to $25.038 trillion. It means the retail sales in 2019 increases by 4.5% compared to retail sales in 2018.
• It is estimated that global e-commerce sales will rise to $3.535 trillion with a percentage growth rate of 20.7%. Global e-commerce is about 14.1% of global retail sales.
• The country with the largest e-commerce market is China. China has a huge population and they prefer to shop online. China will represent 54.7% of the global e-commerce market by the end of 2019.
• By 2020, B2B e-commerce sales will outgrow B2C e-commerce sales.
• Around 2 billion is the estimated number of global digital buyers in 2019.
• Asia-Pacific will be leading the global e-commerce growth change in 2019.
• Top 10 fast growing e-commerce countries with percentage change in their growth are:
  • Mexico – 35%
  • India – 31.9%
  • Philippine – 31%
  • China – 27.3%
  • Malaysia – 22.4%
  • Canada – 21.1%
  • Indonesia – 20.6%
  • Argentina – 18.8%
  • Russia -18.7%
  • South Korea – 18.1%

M-commerce statistics

Smartphones are becoming more powerful, and their users are able to perform a lot more activities on their mobile phones. The increasing mobile phone usage had a massive impact on the growth of e-commerce.  Currently, the average person is spending a lot of time on their mobile phone. The smartphone can be carried anywhere and are regularly checked by their users. Businesses that optimize their marketing efforts for mobile will gain a competitive advantage.

• Worldwide smartphone users today surpassed 3 billion and this number will grow further by 100 million in the next few years.
• Mobile e-commerce sales comprised 63.5% of the total sales in e-commerce in 2018.
• 51% of online shoppers purchased products via their smartphones.
• 71% of the total digital minutes spent by consumers come from mobile devices.
• 65% of shoppers make price comparisons in their mobile devices while shopping in a physical store.
• In 2019, it is expected that 67.2 percent of digital sales are from mobile e-commerce.
• Small retailers are more likely to see a 30% higher mobile conversion rate compared to big retailers.
• Only 2.86% of visits to e-commerce sites are converted into purchases.

E-commerce along with the growing smartphone usage is slowly but surely reshaping the business environment. Being savvy and adapting quickly to benefit from this change has the capability to position your business for growth. It also allows you to improve the shopping experience for consumers. E-commerce and M-commerce provide customers with the option to purchase whatever they want, whenever they want conveniently with just a few clicks.

While e-commerce is growing in popularity; it doesn’t mean it will completely replace brick-and-mortar shops. After all, these two selling approaches provide different experiences for customers.  To leverage the full benefits of e-commerce, it is best to study your industry and tailor your e-commerce strategy appropriately.

Sources:  Statista, Shopify, KPMG, eMarketer