The 23 key e-commerce statistics for 2024

E-commerce is like a wind turbine on a blowy day: it’s fast-moving. Whether you’re selling SaaS software, handbags or wallpaper, e-commerce is a field where you need to keep up to date or risk failure. To find out about the main e-commerce trends, there’s nothing like looking at studies and key figures. Here are the 23 recent e-commerce statistics you should know!

The 6 most important e-commerce statistics

There are 2.64 billion online buyers in the world

With the rise in online commerce, it’s no surprise that online buyer numbers are increasing worldwide. In 2023, an estimated 2.64 billion people bought online: that’s 33.3% of the global population. Wherever you are in the world, around 1 in 3 of the people around you buys online.

The global market penetration rate will be 34.1% by 2028

According to a Statista study, the world e-commerce penetration rate will be 29.9% by 2024 and reach 34.1% by 2028. As a reminder, penetration rate means a product’s or service’s market coverage. The market we’re talking about here is online commerce.

China is the most powerful country in the e-commerce sector

Unsurprisingly, China is the world’s top e-commerce market, followed by the USA, the UK and Japan.

40% of e-commerce brands are most worried about inflation

Rising inflation is the biggest worry for 40% of e-commerce managers, ahead of Covid, social inequality and unemployment.

60% of global online sales are carried out on smartphones or tablets

Optimising your e-commerce site for m-commerce is therefore essential. According to a Statista study, 60% of online sales worldwide are made using smartphones and tablets.

63% of purchases start online

Whether consumers discover a product or a service in store or online, their journey starts online in 63% of cases, according to the tech giant Google. Most buying journeys begin on Google or Amazon, where clients go for their shopping.

🃏 Want to play your cards right? Here are some tips on standing out from the competition in e-commerce.

The 3 key e-commerce figures for Europe

European e-commerce will make 300.4 billion dollars in 2028

Yes, you read that right. The European e-commerce market is expected to grow and grow from 2023 to 2028, reaching a total of 300.4 billion dollars (a 51.12% increase). We await a new peak in a few years.

In 2022, Ireland had Europe’s biggest e-commerce market

The European country that made the most money from e-commerce in 2022 was Ireland, with a 33% market share. The Emerald Isle was closely followed by the Czech Republic (30%), Belgium (29%) and Luxembourg (26%).

Finland and Norway have the lowest number of online buyers

At the back of the pack, we have Finland and Norway. According to a Statista study, these two countries are home to the lowest proportions of weekly online buyers.

The 6 key world e-commerce statistics

Online buyer numbers should reach 2.5 billion by 2028

If online commerce continues to grow, online buyer numbers should reach 2.5 billion by 2028.

Argentina is the country with the quickest e-commerce growth

According to The Social Shepherd, Argentina is seeing the quickest e-commerce growth. In 2020, the country with the blue and white flag had an exponential increase of 100.6% in this sector.

Online sales should increase 50% between 2021 and 2025

The Social Shepherd also says that online transactions should double between 2021 and 2025.

The average basket value has grown 10.1% to €68

In the first quarter of 2023, the average transaction (for products and services) was €68, compared with €62 in the first quarter of 2022. This rise is due to an increase in the average spend for services.

48% of consumers spend more when the buying experience is personalised

Online buyers love personalised buying experiences. 48% will spend more for an experience tailored to their preferences.

Social commerce continues to expand

Social commerce continues to develop at pace. On average, users spend over two hours a day on social media and around a quarter mainly use these platforms for shopping.

The 5 key m-commerce figures

79% of smartphone owners shop online

“79% of smartphone owners have shopped online using their mobile device in the past 6 months” says an OuterBox study from March 2023.

40% of users switch to the competition after a poor mobile experience

The statistics show that 40% of users who have a bad mobile experience then switch to the competition. This is one of the reasons why e-commerce platforms do all they can to facilitate the online buying experience.

50% of smartphone users prefer to buy from a site rather than download an app

Having to download a smartphone app in order to buy is a real obstacle for half of consumers. Instead, they prefer to browse a brand’s website from their mobile phone. This was discovered by a Think With Google study.

90% of buyers say the mobile buying experience could be better

90% of online buyers believe the mobile buying experience could be better. The main difficulties are text and links that are too small, plus security problems. Buyers also want more information about products and services before purchasing.

People mainly like m-commerce because it saves time

Another interesting key e-commerce figure is that 3 in 4 consumers say they buy using their mobile devices because it saves them time (source: dynamic yield).

The 3 key payment provider statistics

PayPal revenue is constantly developing

PayPal’s quarterly turnover increased to 7.04 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2023, vs 6.48 billion dollars in the same period the previous year. This secure online payment platform has many satisfied customers (over 435 PayPal accounts were active worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2022) and this is producing results.

Over 85.1 million people use Venmo

This is a digital wallet designed to facilitate financial management for everyone from students to small businesses.

And while 85.1 million is an impressive e-commerce figure, the tool is only available in the USA.

Venmo’s popularity in the country is mainly due to its lack of fees.

Wondering which payment methods are most popular in Europe? Here are the payment methods to offer on your e-commerce site.

Apple Pay is still a minor player in the e-commerce sector

Although Apple Pay dominates the mobile wallet market, it’s still small fry on the e-commerce market.

Most online payments are made via PayPal (56.55%), followed by Stripe (20.94%). Apply Pay comes third (6.21%) in front of Authorize.net (4.19%) and Google Pay (3.26%).

Key e-commerce figures: recap

This guide to key e-commerce statistics in Europe and the world has been written for information purposes.

But also with a strategic goal in mind.

By knowing what your clients want and which tools they use, you can meet all their needs.

Still got a bit of time to spare? Discover the role played by email marketing in e-commerce.