E-commerce has lots of growth ahead

Article Excerpt

Commerce conducted online exploded in 2020 to 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic limited consumers’ access to shopping malls and other traditional shopping outlets. When shoppers returned to the physical stores in 2022, the growth in e-commerce stalled, but the upward trend resumed in 2023. The growth in shopping online is helped along by the increased use of mobile devices, the ease and convenience of conducting transactions, the growth in social commerce (“influencers” via Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram), and sellers becoming better informed about consumer preferences using artificial intelligence. Online shoppers now count for an estimated 2.7 billion or a third of the global population. Still, expanding consumer markets and the low overall penetration rate leave room for further market share capture; estimates indicate that the uptrend of online shopping will continue in the years ahead. Growth slowed after the pandemic boost Global e-commerce retail sales (which includes all products and services ordered by consumers using the internet, excluding travel, events, and money transfers) jumped…