15 Mind-Blowing Stats About Online Shopping In 2019

More shoppers, more sales, larger orders: The numbers keep growing for online shopping.

More shoppers, more sales, larger orders: The numbers keep growing for online shopping—as does the piece of the pie for retailers that keep customers at the center of their strategies all year long.

What do consumers expect from their go-to digital storefronts and e-commerce experiences? What are the most effective ways for retailers to reach customers–and wow them? And are there common beliefs about what retail customers want that data proves otherwise? This latest installment of “15 Mind-Blowing Stats” has the answers.

1. The total value of global retail e-commerce sales will reach $3.45 trillion by the end of 2019, up 19% over 2018. (Source: eMarketer)
2. An estimated $143.7 billion will be spent online during the holiday season this year. That means $1 of every $5 spent in November through December will be spent online. Almost 20%—$29 billion—of the total spend for the two-month period is forecasted to come from Cyber Week, which are the five days starting Thanksgiving and ending Cyber Monday. (Source: Adobe)
3. The concentration of e-commerce sales growth this holiday season will likely come from high-income markets. However, everyone appreciates a good deal: The value of an online visit increases 74% during the five-day weekend of Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, regardless of consumers’ incomes. (Source: Adobe)
4. Amazon now accounts for nearly 50% of the U.S. e-commerce market. (Source: TechCrunch)
5. A whopping 95% of commerce transactions will happen online by 2040. (Source: NASDAQ)
6. Sixty-three percent of consumers said retail technologies and innovations have improved their shopping experience on mobile devices, while 66% said they have improved experiences in stores, and 80% online. (Source: National Retail Federation)
7. Retailers have numerous opportunities to simplify shoppers’ path to making a purchase. Consumers are interested in technologies that show whether a product is in stock (55%), help them compare prices or read reviews (49%), make it easier to find a product or its location (47%), or try an item before buying it (38%). (Source: National Retail Federation)

8. Fifty-four percent of Gen Z survey respondents said they would like to see tools that allow them to try out products in-store—for example, a “magic mirror.” This capability was more popular among females (59%) than males (49%). On the other hand, 46% of males were interested in robots that help make decisions or fix problems, compared to 33% of females. (Source: IBM/National Retail Federation)
9. Sixty-three percent of consumers say email is the most effective tool to get them to shop at a particular retailer, but traditional broadcast media (46%), direct mail (38%) and print ads (32%) still pack a punch. (Source: Retail TouchPoints)
10. When it comes to the reasons that consumers share their data, the most popular reason is to receive discounts on products, with 90% of respondents selecting it. This could taker the form of an email sign-up, with many e-commerce sites offering an immediate discount in return for a newsletter sign-up. (Source: SmarterHQ)
11. Sixty-two percent of retailers report that the use of information (including big data) and analytics is creating a competitive advantage for their organizations. (Source: IBM)
12. Online shoppers show a very low appetite for paying for shipping. That’s why they’ll take various actions to obtain free shipping, including adding items to the cart (36%), choosing the slowest transit time (32%), and searching online for a promo code (32%). (Source: UPS)
13. Returning merchandise remains a key demand for online shoppers. 73% of surveyed consumers responded that the returns experience affected whether they would continue shopping with a retailer. Globally, 36% of online shoppers returned an item in the previous three months. (Source: UPS)
14. Twenty-nine percent of global respondents allow delivery companies to unlock or access their personal dwelling or location to deliver products. (Source: The Conference Board/Nielsen)
15. Sixty-nine percent of consumers say not being able to reach a human being is the biggest post-sale customer service mistake retailers make. (Source: Retail TouchPoints)