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If you’re looking for a way to boost your sales and take your business to new heights, e-commerce should be firmly on your radar. We’ve rounded up some UK and global e-commerce statistics for 2024 to illustrate the power of online sales.
The UK has one of the most advanced e-commerce markets in Europe. Here’s a round up of some key statistics:
1
Wix
Starting price
£16 per month
Drag and Drop Interface
Yes
Standout features
All-inclusive plans, recurring payments, abandoned cart recovery
1
Wix
On Wix’s Secure Website
2
Shopify
Starting price
£19 per month (free trial; £1 for first month)
Drag and drop interface
Yes
Standout features
Dropshipping integrations, omnichannel selling, built-in selling features
2
Shopify
On Shopify’s Secure Website
3
Squarespace
Starting price
£12 per month
Drag-and-Drop Editor
Yes
Standout Features
User-friendly editor, robust e-commerce plan, no transaction fees
3
Squarespace
On Squarespace’s Secured Website
But selling via e-commerce goes well beyond UK shores. By pairing a strong online presence with the latest e-commerce platforms, you can open the doors of your business to the world and remain open 24/7. Here’s a round-up of the latest global statistics and why they matter.
Each year, fewer and fewer people are shopping in physical stores.[1] To stay ahead of the game, your company needs to maximise its online presence and give customers a viable way to shop online. Rather than putting more money into brick-and-mortar locations, consider putting that budget into developing and marketing an online store.
Online shopping statistics show the increase in digital orders is not just a trend. Shopping online is here to stay, as 22.6% of total retail sales will be conducted online in 2027.[1] Start thinking today about how to sell products online to avoid becoming obsolete.
The entire e-commerce business is booming, not just retail sales. With nearly 9% growth projected for this year, there are plenty of opportunities to dive in.[1] Help your business stand out from the competition by staying at the forefront of online payment technologies and creating a website that’s easy to navigate and browse.
Selling products online means you’re not limited to local consumers. This gives you nearly unlimited potential for new demographics – and the statistics show companies are taking advantage. The global e-commerce market is expected to be worth $6.3 trillion this year – up from $5.8 trillion in 2023.[1]
If you do it well, it could be a good time to get into e-commerce, as the market shows no signs of slowing. By 2027, experts predict it will total over $7.9 trillion.[1] The earlier you buy in, the more money your company stands to make over time.
With the ease of international shipping and the simplicity of online orders, choosing a product from overseas is not a big concern for online shoppers. Globally, 52% of online consumers order from both local and international websites.[2] Tailoring your offerings to international customers by offering additional shipping options could be a viable way to increase your sales. The most common reason online shoppers abandon their cart is because of additional costs like shipping, taxes and fees (47%).
If you plan to add e-commerce to your business, you should know what will deter, rather than attract, customers. Almost half of online shoppers reported that extra fees, such as shipping and taxes, will prevent them from moving forward with their purchase during the checkout process. Other inhibitors include requiring shoppers to create an account, slow delivery times, website privacy concerns and a long or complicated checkout process.[2]
While you can ask online shoppers if they’d like to create an account on your website, you shouldn’t require them to do so. This is because some of them may simply leave your online store and look elsewhere for what they need. They’d prefer to checkout as a guest and don’t want to go through the time and hassle of creating a username and password.[2]
When a customer orders a product online, they may not expect it that hour or that day. But many of them want it as soon as possible. If it takes weeks or months for you to ship orders, they’ll likely leave their online shopping session on your website and turn to a competitor with faster shipping times.[2] E-commerce and slow shipping are not a good combination so it’s important to streamline your shipping processes and do whatever you can to expedite the time it takes for customers to receive their orders.
For many people, shopping online is a strong habit. As many as 34% of shoppers buy something online once a week.[4] Your company may be able to capitalize on this by using email marketing to send out weekly product updates and offerings to entice your customer base into a purchase.
Over 48 studies have looked at shopping cart abandonment rate statistics, and the average between them all is 69.99%.[5] This number has held relatively steady since about 2014. If you want to reduce this percentage, consider changing some of the factors we identified above, such as enabling guest checkout, reducing shipping costs and providing faster turnaround times. You might also consider abandoned cart email campaigns to lure customers who are on the fence back in.
As the number of social media users increases, so does the amount they’re spending in apps. In 2022, customers spent $992 billion on purchases through social media. This trend is particularly big in Thailand, where 90% of internet users have purchased from social media. India is a close second, with 86% of internet users making a social media purchase.[2]
If you thought the current social media commerce market was big, consider that it’s expected to jump up to $8.5 trillion in just six short years.[2] There are major opportunities here for businesses to cash in on their social media following. To take advantage of this growing audience, we recommend using a robust social media management tool.
Live commerce is a growing trend where users buy products from social media sites in real time. It’s a particularly popular option in Thailand, India and China, where over seven in 10 users engaged in live shopping.[2] If you’d like to move into the global market or expand your global reach, selling your products or services on social media is certainly worth exploring.
There is no shortage of social media platforms these days but not all of them are effective for selling your offerings online. About 51% of survey respondents stated that they use Facebook for online purchases so keep this in mind when determining which platforms to use.
Social media gives many people the feeling that they need to “keep up with the Joneses.” As a result, many of them make purchases they might not have considered if they didn’t use a platform such as Facebook or Instagram. The most influential products on social media include clothing or accessories, health or beauty items, food or drinks, event tickets and vacation experiences.[6]
Social media influencers are active social media users who have built a reputation for their expertise and knowledge on a certain topic. Almost half of social media commerce shoppers have been encouraged to make a purchase based on what they saw or heard from these influencers. Believe it or not, 70% of teens trust influencers more than traditional celebrities and 86% of women use social media for purchasing advice.[7]
Most people depend on their smartphone on a daily basis. Whether they have an Apple, Android or other device, many of them turn to it every time they want to make an online purchase.[8] While it’s vital to create a seamless shopping experience on a desktop, it’s almost more important to ensure your website looks and works well on mobile devices.
Since 2018, the global mobile e-commerce market has been steadily increasing. It was a mere 56% back then, but experts estimate it’ll reach 62% in 2027.[2] To prepare, it’s important to make sure your online website and store follow the best mobile website design practices, including making pages easy to navigate with thumbs and utilising responsive web design.
Clearly, mobile commerce is a big market, as it totaled $491 billion in sales last year.[2] More and more customers are shopping from their phones, so it makes sense for your company to start considering tactics such as mobile SEO to help specifically draw in smartphone users to your website.
In just three years, mobile commerce sales will nearly double to $856 billion.[2] To stay competitive in your industry, your business must start building mobile e-commerce into your overall digital marketing strategy. Consider redesigning your website to be more responsive, creating a shopping app for users to browse your products or even offering special discounts or perks for mobile users.
Smartphones are widely used for online shopping, but what about tablets? Tablet e-commerce sales reached $61.08 billion in 2022. Surprisingly, this figure is expected to go down to $54.01 billion by 2026.[1] This is likely because tablets are becoming less popular and e-commerce retailers have improved the mobile shopping experience.
Fraud that occurs on an e-commerce platform, such as using a stolen or fake credit card to make a purchase, is considered e-commerce fraud. Unfortunately, e-commerce retailers missed out on about $41 billion due to e-commerce fraud in 2022.[2]
Sadly, e-commerce fraud is not going away any time soon. In fact, it’s likely that online retailers will lose $48 billion to e-commerce fraud in 2023.[2] If you’re using e-commerce to boost your sales, prioritize fraud prevention measures, such as routine security audits, an Address Verification Service (AVS) and a Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS).
If you’re selling products online, you’ll need to account for some e-commerce fraud detection and prevention tools in your budget. This might include verification software or IP fraud-scoring tools to stop thieves from trying to scam your system. Right now, the market for this software is booming, as it’s worth over $36.7 billion.[2]
E-commerce fraud detection and prevention tools will only become more important as online shopping continues to grow. Experts estimate the market will be worth over $100 billion by 2027.[2] Scammers will continue finding ways to skirt fraud detection efforts, meaning companies will need to invest in more vigilant software as well as stay payment card industry compliant.
This number is up from £75 the year before, and it’s expected to keep on increasing.[2] Unsurprisingly, the number of consumers who lost money after being targeted by an online shopping scam is also on the rise. It’s gone from 71% in 2015 to 75% in 2021. Businesses need to take proactive steps to protect both their own and their customers’ finances.
1
Wix
Starting price
£16 per month
Drag and Drop Interface
Yes
Standout features
All-inclusive plans, recurring payments, abandoned cart recovery
1
Wix
On Wix's Secure Website
2
Shopify
Starting price
£19 per month (free trial; £1 for first month)
Drag and drop interface
Yes
Standout features
Dropshipping integrations, omnichannel selling, built-in selling features
2
Shopify
On Shopify's Secure Website
3
Squarespace
Starting price
£12 per month
Drag-and-Drop Editor
Yes
Standout Features
User-friendly editor, robust e-commerce plan, no transaction fees
3
Squarespace
On Squarespace's Secured Website
Kristy Snyder is a professional writer and editor living in Pittsburgh with over 10 years of content creation experience. In addition to being a Content Editor for Clever Real Estate, she has contributed to numerous leading financial and tech websites, including Bankrate, The Simple Dollar, NextAdvisor, and more. Connect with her on LinkedIn to learn more about her work.
I've been involved in personal finance and property journalism for the past 20 years, editing websites and writing for national newspapers. My objective has always been to offer no-nonsense information to readers that either saves or earns them cash.