Figures: Introduction >> Ecommerce Growth
Ecommerce Growth
Business is “Digital-first”
The pandemic of 2020 has accelerated this trend to a “digital-first” economy further, prompting “10 years’ growth in 3 months” for ecommerce, according to a study published by McKinsey in 2020.1 That shift in 2020 wasn’t a one-time spike, however. Instead, it was a permanent change to a new normal. The pandemic is slowly starting to get under control as of this writing, but the growth of ecommerce is continuing, as seen in the figure below.
Figure: Global Retail Ecommerce Forecast, Source eMarketer:
Ecommerce in China
Yet, an even more significant shift to digital is still on the horizon if Asia and the UK are a tell-tale of what’s to come: As eMarketer reported at the end of 2020, in a global historic first, ecommerce has reached over 50% of total retail sales in China, and around 30% in S. Korea, and the UK (while the US is still far behind at 15-20%)2.
Retail Ecommerce Sales in China, Source eMarketer
Newer Updates
In mid 2022, we find that the global economic outlook has become more uncertain. In fact the New York Times has declared “Uncertainty” to be the word of 2022.
As.a sign of the time, eMarketer also published the following forecast in August 2022
Worldwide ecommerce growth drops to single digits, while overall retail muddles through.
These figures are posted here with prior permission. Thank you.