The Online Shopping Market Around the World

Online shopping, also known as e-commerce, is a wildly popular way for consumers to access products these days.  It’s convenient, simple, and can be done with a quick click from home. Companies like Amazon even offer free and fast shipping to their members.  But what does online shopping look like from a global standpoint? First of all, it’s a growing industry, with sales worldwide expected to more than double between 2018 and 2023. Let’s look at the e-commerce industry in the three regions around the world.

In the United States, e-commerce is huge.  The mobile e-commerce spending in the United States as of 2019 quarter two is USD 41.2 billion, and these numbers are only expected to grow.  Smartphones have overtaken laptops and computers as the device most-used devices for online shopping. Amazon has the most popular shopping app for smartphone users, with 150.6 million monthly users.  In terms of consumer preferences, the vast majority of online shoppers search their desired product on Google or Amazon and then purchase said product on Amazon.

In Europe, 69% of people with internet access are involved in online shopping.  The most developed e-commerce market in Europe is in the United Kingdom. While a plethora of products are available in the e-commerce market, the most popular purchases online are in fashion, followed by electronics and media, toys and hobby products, furniture and appliances, and personal care and food items.  Finally, online shopping in Europe is done mostly through national sellers.

The growth of e-commerce in Asia sets it apart from any other region, and China is the largest e-commerce market in the world.  Furthermore, India’s e-commerce revenue is growing at an annual rate of 51%, which makes it the highest growth in the world.  E-commerce is also growing exponentially in other Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Alibaba is the largest e-commerce marketplace in Asia, covering 80% of online sales in China.

As we can see, e-commerce is growing throughout the globe.  While some markets are more developed than others, online shopping is changing the way consumers buy products, and its popularity is sure to grow for the foreseeable future.