Retail e-commerce sales worldwide were 2290 billion US dollars and are expected to rise to 2774 billion in 2018, according to Statista. Thus, global e-commerce sales are predicted to show 20% growth, which is a huge number for business and certainly a steady trend with no signs of decline.
Same steady growth goes to the share of e-commerce when it comes to its global share of retail – from 10.1% in 2017, it jumps to 11.6% in 2018 as predicted.
Digital buyers penetration worldwide states for 46.4% and will increase to 47.3% in 2018.
Globally, e-commerce is a strongly growing domain with no signs of decline for 2018 and even the following years. It remains a popular choice for investments and new businesses, and further growth will promote development of experiences, technology, and, of course, rising competition.
ONLINE SHOPPING TRENDS AND STATISTICS
MOBILE MAJORITY
- 18% of local searches lead to a sale within 24 hours.
- Mobile will be reaching 70% of e-commerce traffic by the end of 2018.
- By the end of 2017, over two billion mobile phone or tablet users made some form of mobile commerce transaction.
- Mobile commerce was hitting US$700 billion in revenue in 2017, which is more than 300% growth over the past four years.
That being said, mobile e-commerce is growing faster than e-commerce in general. And with Google’s mobile first principle to roll out in 2018, being mobile is no longer a fancy trend – it’s a necessity, avoiding which will lead to significant losses in sales and revenue.
For those who sell globally, it’s important to know that Asia is responsible for almost a half of the mobile commerce market. China, UAE, and Turkey have the highest number of mobile shoppers, with 68%, 57% and 53%, respectively, of the total population. Also, the emerging markets with the highest growth rates are India, Taiwan, and Malaysia. The first-world countries are not staying behind: the highest growth rates are detected in Japan, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
What to do: simply speaking, your e-commerce store should be conveniently available on mobile, be it a mobile app, a separate mobile version or responsive design. Not tomorrow or next month – today.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO BLOSSOM
The following graphic provides an overview of the areas in software that were found the greater potential for AI/ML investment. E-commerce is one of them.
