However you feel about online shopping, we’re here to get you the facts about just how prevalent and influential this mode of transaction is. Here, we share some key statistics you should know about this totally tech-driven growing marketplace.
Online Shopping Habits
People shop differently. Here we share some stats about how often people shop and the impact that online activity has in our everyday life.
- 1994 was when the first online purchase was made
- 33% of Americans engage in online shopping at least once a week
- 24% of consumers shop online every two weeks
- 3% of online shoppers indicated they shop online every day
- 69% of adults in the U.S. shop online at least once a month
- 10% of consumers shop online once every three months
- 15% of consumers shop online 3-4 times each quarter
- 1.8 billion people made a purchase online in 2018
- 56% of people who shop online still prefer visiting a physical store
- 37% of shoppers are committed to an online store when possible
- 32% of consumers said that they often make purchases because they are on sale
- 87% of online shoppers claim they use reviews to provide insight into the product they’re considering purchasing
- 18% of shoppers indicated that they buy items that they don’t even need or had the intention of purchasing when they began their online shopping experience
- 23% of the world’s population have made a purchase online
- Shopping with a mobile device grew to 15% in 2019
- Shopping with a desktop computer dropped to 63% in 2019
Who Shops Online?
If you’ve got a laptop, computer or mobile device, you can shop online. Here’s how online shopper activity spans across demographics.
- 75% of Americans have purchased an item online
- 63% of Americans have made an online purchase through Amazon
- 230.5 million people are expected to shop online by 2021
- 227.5 million people shop online in the United States
- 23% of people said that they shopped online more often in 2018 than in previous years
- 11% of people said that they planned to increase the amount of times they shopped online in the years to come
Gender
- 60% of women purchase things from Amazon regularly
- 46% of men indicated that they frequently shop on Amazon
- 22% of men use a mobile device to shop online
- 40% of women often use mobile devices for their online shopping
- 44% of men prefer to shop in-store in order to get a feel for what they’re purchasing
- 33% of women prefer to shop in-store to experience the product prior to purchasing
Age
- 54% of purchases made online are completed by Millennials
- 40% of consumer shopping will be dominated by Gen Z
- 95% of Gen Z say that they have their own smartphone
- 85% of Gen Z use social media platforms to learn about new products the may consider purchasing
Family Influence
- 23% of shoppers without kids living at home made online purchases weekly
- 40% of shoppers with one kid at home made online purchases weekly
- 66% of shoppers who made weekly purchases online had at least three kids at home
- $177 is the average order total for families with at least three kids
- 6% of people without kids at home used a reordering service
- 22% of shoppers with at least three kids used a reordering service
Online Shopping Behavior
People who shop online might go about their business a little differently than those who stop in in-store. Here are some insights into how people go about their online shopping.
- 76% of people shop online because they believe it is less expensive
- 78% of people choose to shop online to avoid waiting in line
- 88% of people enjoy the ability to shop anytime of the day online
- 63% of shopping trips begin on an online platform
- 60% of consumers have used chatbot services in order to get an answer to their question online
- 80% of businesses have incorporated a chatbot service on their website
- 88% of people enjoy the opportunity to find the products they are looking for easily through an online platform
- 87% of online shoppers indicated that engagement with social media influences the decisions they make when shopping
- 31% of consumers have used a smart speaker to add an item to their cart for review and purchase at a later time
- 29% of consumers with smart speakers used it to research an item they are considering purchasing
- 65% of people use their phone to check for price comparisons while they’re physically in a store
- 51% of shoppers are influenced by checking price comparisons
- 15% of shopping is conducted through mobile
- 42% of Americans purchased groceries in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- 60% of Americans do their online grocery shopping through Amazon
- 11% of consumers said that they often turn to shopping to boost their mood
- 7% of the annual income for those who earn more than $50,000 is spent on online shopping
- 70% of online shoppers will return to a site from their device within the first hour of seeing a product
- 3.4% of annual incomes for those who earn less than $50,000 is spent on online shopping
How Do People Make Online Purchases?
The world of online shopping opens a wide range of options to make purchases from wherever you are. Here are some stats about how people approach their online shopping.
- 54% of shoppers use a computer to make their purchases
- 47% of consumers shop more often with their mobile device than going into stores
- 45% of shoppers online use a mobile device to complete their orders
- Online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay accounted for more than 50% of sales across the world in 2018
- 54% of eCommerce sales are expected to be made through mobile devices by 2021
- 63% of cart abandonments are due to additional unexpected costs added to the total
- 67% of consumers use their phones to window shop online
- 44% of Americans have utilized Amazon Prime for their online shopping
- 67% of people who shop online claim that they trust Amazon with their personal information
- 36% of online shoppers prefer using eWallet as their payment method when shopping online
- 55% of shoppers online say that receiving free shipping on their order is the most important feature they can receive while checking out
Online Spending Habits
When you’re not physically handing over cash, online shoppers may have different spending habits. Here we give the scoop on how much people are spending online as they shop.
- 48% of shoppers have increased the amount of their shopping order to get free shipping on their purchases
- 10% of shoppers used a voice home assistant in making an online purchase
- 59% of people made their first online purchase through Amazon
- 46% of people haven’t completed a purchase online due to having too many options to navigate through
- 56% of cart abandonment cases are due to unexpected costs
- $114 is the average order online
- 88.6% of people have fallen into the temptation of impulse buying while shopping online
- 80% of people are deterred from online shopping on a site due to ineffective or inconvenient user experience
- 40% of customers said that businesses that have free return policies influence their online shopping decisions
- 68% is the average cart abandonment rate
- 23% of cart abandonments are due to the need to create an account before completing their order
- WeChat Pay is the top mobile payment platform
- Only 45% of Americans use mobile transaction services
- 67% of online shoppers check the return page for information prior to completing their online purchase
- 54% of online shoppers will complete the purchase of the items in their abandoned cart if they are able to receive discounts on those items
- 89% of transactions are made through PayPal
What Do People Buy Online?
With such diverse opportunities available online, you can pretty much find anything online. Here are some interesting stats about what’s often purchased online.
- 29% of the products purchased online were books
- 27% of the products purchased online were women’s apparel
- 51% of people around the world said that they have purchased apparel through an online platform
- 17% of online orders were footwear purchases
- 47% of people have made a footwear purchase online
- Electronics accounted for 54% of online purchases
- 75% of search queries every month are new searches
- 37% of online shopping orders were toys or school supplies
- 69% of consumers said that they want to see new items when they check out their site
How Online Shopping Impacts The Economy
Online shopping is influential in contributing to the overall health of the economy. Here are some interesting stats about how purchases made online influence the overall marketplace.
- There are 12-24 million eCommerce stores in the world
- $4.2 trillion is expected for eCommerce sales by 2020
- $6.5 trillion in sales is expected to be reached by eCommerce by 2023
- 650,000 eCommerce stores generate more than $1,000 each year
- 300 million people shop online
- $6.5 million is the average total revenue for eCommerce sites after three years of operations
- $891.7 billion is expected to be generated by eCommerce sites by 2022
- $38.16 billion is expected to be generated by food and beverage markets online by 2021
- 22% of global retail sales will be made up of eCommerce by 2023
- 14% of global retail sales were completed through eCommerce sites in 2019
- 11% of all retail sales in the United States are through eCommerce
- $1,804 is the average revenue per shopper in the United States
The Power of Online Shopping
The fun pastime of shopping has begun to look much different today than it did decades ago. When you needed a birthday present, a new outfit or restock your household essentials, you’d often needed to put your shoes on, drive to a store, find what you were looking for, get distracted by all the other things on sale that you didn’t think you needed but now realize you do, finally make your purchases and drive home. While shopping in-store still brings a lot of joy, it’s no longer the only way to get what you need, when you need it.
Online shopping has transformed our economy. Ecommerce platforms are soaring in popularity across industries. For many businesses, in order to stay afloat, online sales are part of the game.
The internet has transformed the way people engage with today’s trending and global marketplace. And with new technology opportunities sprouting up constantly, it seems that online shopping is here to stay. As an active participant in this digital market, knowing the current state of eCommerce and where it’s going can help you stay ahead in your business and shopping endeavors.
A big thank you to Sleek Note, Mintel, Spend Me Not, Fortunly, OptinMonster, Mintel, Oberlo, and BigCommerce for helping to contribute to this collection. Want to see your data added here? Contact us.