Whether you’re on the lookout for an indispensable medicine, a fancy item of clothing, the kitchen utensil you find nowhere, or even the coziest piece of furniture, making an online purchase is undoubtedly the fastest and most convenient shopping method. Seldom do we see a brick-and-mortar store without an online store.

With the emergence of eCommerce marketplace facilitators, you can effortlessly find all the goods offered on the platform by typing the desired item in the search bar. Window shopping has become a virtual visit of the few things gleaming from the window and the entire product line in a matter of seconds. Either way, just by looking around or placing orders online without going to a physical store, you can shop till you drop.

Have a glance at some of the latest online shopping statistics proving that online shopping is the best shopping therapy.

Editor’s Picks:

• Retail e-commerce sales worldwide are forecast to surpass $6.5 trillion in 2023.
• By 2024 retail eCommerce sales in the U.S. will amount to $476 billion.
• The United States has the highest eCommerce revenue per shopper with $1,804.
• A whopping 92% of visitors to an online retail store aren’t ready to buy.
• 75% of people shopping online do so at least once a month.
• The average monthly eCommerce website visits are 21.96 billion.
• 72 % of internet users in the EU shopped online in 2020.
• Clothing is the leading online vertical with 59% of online purchases.
• COVID-19 drives away 52% of consumers from retail stores.

Online Shopping Statistics by Year

1. eCommerce sales have increased by $3.2 billion since 2014.

The number of sales have had an upward trend and have increased multifold year by year.
Source: Kinsta

2. Retail eCommerce sales worldwide are forecast to surpass $6.5 trillion in 2023.

The figures will have doubled since 2019, when they amounted to $3.53 trillion.
Source: Statista

3. By 2024, retail eCommerce sales in the U.S. will amount to $476 billion.

Apparel and accessories retail eCommerce is projected to reach close to $153.6 billion.
Source: Statista

4. Online retail sales statistics forecast that eCommerce will participate in global retail sales by 22% by the year 2023.

The foundation for this prediction is the rise of mobile eCommerce, omnichannel strategies, and influencers. Source: Statista

Demographics of Online Shoppers

5. Baby Boomers spend more per online transaction than Generation X and Millennial shoppers do.

Baby Boomers spend $203 on average, while Gen X ($190) and Millenials ($173) don’t lag far behind hunting for the best internet sales.

6. Online vs. brick and mortar shopping statistics have found that Millennial and Gen X shoppers account for the most extensive online shopping proportion with 67% and 56%, respectively.

They prefer browsing for the best buy online from the comfort of their homes and spend six hours, which is two hours more than their older counterparts.
Source: Kinsta

7. Men’s online spending per purchase is higher than women’s ($220 for men and $150 for women).

This accounts for men’s investments in high-end products such as electronics and gadgets as opposed to women’s transactions of relatively inexpensive accessories and cosmetics or food.
Source: KPMG

8. Women are more frequent online shoppers than men.

Demographics of online shoppers represent a larger proportion of men who have a soft spot for more shopping verticals than women.

Image source: BelVG

Online Shopping Statistics by Race

9. Asian shoppers are the leaders in the number of online purchases with 57.6%.

Online shopping data shows that 50.1% of Whites purchase from eStores, followed by Latino (45.9%) and Black (43.9%) shoppers.

10. 78% of U.S. Asians have a PC at home, versus 70% of Whites, 45% of Blacks, and 58% of Hispanics.

It’s likely that the socioeconomic status forecasts shopping behavior across all channels, making race alone a red herring for retailers.
Source: Digital Commerce 360

Online Shopping Statistics by Region

11. California, Washington, and Massachusetts are the top three states with more than 54% of residents who made online purchases.

Online shopping statistics by state revealed that eCommerce in Wyoming, Mississippi, and Louisiana accounts for less than 40% of residents purchasing online.
Source: PCMag

12. The United States has the highest eCommerce revenue per shopper with $1,804.

Brazil and Russia are at the bottom of the worldwide market online ladder with less than $400.
Source: Invesp

13. Victoria makes up for 36% of online purchases made in Australia.

14. 72% of internet users in the EU shopped online in 2020.

46 % of consumers made purchases for an amount between 100 to less than EUR 500 in the last three months before the survey.

15. Taobao.com is the most significant marketplace facilitator with a gross merchandise value of $515 billion.

According to the same online shopping stats, the online sales sites such Tmall and Amazon ranked second and third with $432 and $344 billion in GMV, respectively.

16. The North American eCommerce market is worth just under $912 billion and is growing at 13% a year.

17. The eCommerce market in South and Central America is worth $50 billion and is growing at 23% a year.

Online sales statistics brought to light that 34% of online purchases are made using a mobile device, and the average annual spending per online shopper is $471.
Source: PPRO

What Do People Buy Online the Most?

18. 59% of online shoppers buy from any top online clothing store, which postulates the category as a leading online vertical.

19. 42% of respondents who had bought books in the past year had chosen that particular purchase channel.

20. 13% of U.S. shoppers stated that they had purchased food and grocery on a third-party marketplace.

Online Shopping Habits

21. 75% of people shopping online do so at least once a month.

In this percentage breakdown, 20% are weekly shoppers while 24% shop once every two weeks.

22. More than 6 in 10 people start their online journey online.

That’s another indicator of why SEO is king in digital content for as much as 60% of online sales today.

23. A whopping 92% of visitors to an online retail store aren’t ready to buy.

Top online retailers who used the retargeting strategy increased the odds of a high conversion rate by 43%.

24. 75% of the online shopping community is always on the lookout for new brands.

Statistics about online shopping found that there are brand news search queries each month.

25. Intoxicated Americans splash out $30 billion in online shopping sales per year.

Gin drinkers spend $82, wine lovers wind up spending around $40, whiskey addicts spend almost $40, and beer fans splash out less than $40.

26. BOPIS has gained popularity with 65% of shoppers.

The thrifting online practice of buying a product online and picking it up from a physical store (BOPIS) is familiar to 85% of shoppers, with 70% of them having tried it at least once to cut on shipping costs and delivery time.
Source: Fit Small Business

Online Shopping Statistics During COVID-19

27. U.S. digital grocery shopping marked an increase with the outbreak of COVID-19 by 26% in just two weeks, peaking at 37%.

28. 10. For 60% of U.S.shoppers, getting a discount for online purchases is even more critical since coronavirus broke out.

29. Online grocery shopping statistics show that a quarter of men have changed their shopping habits in response to COVID-19 emergence compared to just above a fifth of women who have done the same.

Source: Statista

30. Sales for products such as hand sanitizers, gloves, and masks grew more than 800 percent over the first ten weeks of 2020.

Source: Oberlo

31. Supermarket is the industry that received the most online traffic in the fourth quarter of 2020, hitting 34.8%.

32. The number of average monthly visits to global retail eCommerce websites is 21.96 billion, according to retail shopping statistics.

33. The fastest growing eCommerce category in the U.S. due to the pandemic is disposable gloves.

34. COVID-19 drives away 52% of consumers from retail stores who resort to virtual shopping at online retail stores.

35. More than a third of them will steer clear from physical stores until COVID-19 vaccination starts.

Wrap Up

Window shopping has never been easier with the advent of online shopping, and these online shopping statistics offer a snapshot of the current state of online purchase. Hopefully, you now have a better idea of how to approach e-commerce moving forward and can implement this information to level up your brand.

FAQs

Here’s what dozens of people would like to know about stats on online shopping, and we went beyond the call of duty to provide the best answer possible.

What do people buy online?

Even in 2021, fashion remains the queen of sales with 59% of purchases from online clothing stores. Books (42%) and food and grocery (13%) follow. What consumers frequently have in their shopping cart at checkout are trips and tourism services, tech products, second-hand items, and educational courses.

How many people shop online?

In 2021, over 2.14 billion people worldwide buy goods and services online, up from 1.66 billion global digital buyers in 2016. Looking for the best online sales has become a common practice among many people around the world.

How much shopping is done online?

In 2019, it's estimated that there were 1.92 billion digital buyers, and eCommerce sales account for 14.1% of retail purchases worldwide. Since online shopping, in general, is growing so fast, the next statistic shouldn't come as a surprise to you. In 2023, eCommerce retail purchases are expected to rise from 14.1% to 22%.

Who shops online?

Many Gen X and Millennials online shopping statistics illustrate that these two age groups are the most extensive online shopping proportion with 67% and 56%, respectively. They prefer browsing deals from the comfort of their homes and spend six hours, which is two hours more than their older counterparts.

What percentage of shopping is done online?

In 2019, it's estimated there are 1.92 billion digital buyers, and eCommerce sales account for 14.1% of retail purchases worldwide. Since online shopping, in general, is growing so fast, the next statistic shouldn't come as a surprise to you. In 2023, eCommerce retail purchases are expected to rise from 14.1% to 22%

Is online shopping more popular?

Online shopping is snowballing, and the global online shopping market size is predicted to hit 4 trillion in 2020. Three hundred million online shoppers in the U.S. are expected to saturate the eCommerce market in 2023. So far, 69% of Americans have shopped online, and 25% of Americans shop online at least once per month

Which states shop online the most?

The top ten states where residents made more transactions online are California (56.5%), Washington (55.3%), Massachusetts (54.7%), District of Columbia (53.4%), Virginia (53%), New Jersey (52.7%), Rhode Island (52.5%), New Hampshire (52.2%), Delaware (52.1%), and Connecticut (52.1%). Every online purchase is in a correlation between household income and the product’s value.