If you're in an ecommerce business, you're working in one of the fastest-growing, constantly-changing industries out there.
That's why it's important growing DTC companies keep up-to-date with the latest ecommerce statistics and trends. Knowing what's happening in your space will help you get ahead of the curve.
Keep reading for key stats on consumer habits, ecommerce marketing performance, and more for 2023.
Ecommerce statistics: key takeways
This is a big ol’ article. Here’s a TLDR if you just want a quick snapshot of the state of the ecommerce industry in 2023.
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The ecommerce market is worth $6.3 trillion globally
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Whilst slowing, ecommerce sales will still grow 10% in 2023
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Free delivery remains the most convincing purchase driver for online shoppers
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75% of ecommerce shoppers say product photos influence their buying decisions
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Extra costs at checkout causes 48% of abandoned carts
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Loyalty increases a customers’ worth by 22 times
We also interviewed experts on ecommerce trends for 2023 - check it out for more information.
General ecommerce industry statistics
Let's start with the industry as a whole. We’ll take a closer look at the ecommerce sales and segments.
Global ecommerce market statistics
The ecommerce market will generate $6.3 trillion by the end of 2023
Hold on to your hats, I'm about to hit you with a staggering figure. In 2023, the ecommerce industry is set to generate a whopping $6.3 trillion globally. To put that in perspective, if online sales were a country it'd have the third-highest GDP of anywhere in the world, second only to China and the USA.
Source: Forbes, February 2023
2023 will see ecommerce sales grow by 10.4%
The ecommerce market is set to expand by 10.4% by the end of this year. With more of the world’s population getting access to a steady internet connection, and with more of the world’s retail sales taking place online, it’s predicted ecommerce growth will continue well into the next decade.
Source: Forbes, February 2023
2023 will see ecommerce sales grow by 10.4%
China’s ecommerce industry is a power-house, bolstered by ecommerce giant Alibaba. The country’s annual online sales reached $1,538 billion in 2022. Of all retail sales that happened in China, 52% were through ecommerce platforms (rather than brick-and-mortar stores).
The second biggest market for ecommerce is the United States which racked up $875 billion in 2022. It’s the home of many best-in-field DTC brands, as well as Alibaba rivals Amazon and eBay. 19% of retail sales in the US were ecommerce.
Here’s the world’s biggest ecommerce markets at the end of 2022:
- China - $1,538 billion
- United States - $875 billion
- Japan - $241 billion
- Germany - $148 billion
- UK - $143 billion
- South Korea - $118 billion
- India - $97 billion
- France - $96 billion
- Indonesia - $59 billion
- Canada - $59 billion
Source: Oberlo, 2022
Singapore is the fastest-growing ecommerce market
Singapore’s ecommerce market was projected to grow the most out of all the countries in the world by the end of 2022. Its forecasted growth is expected to be 36%.
These are the top 10 ecommerce markets by how much they’re projected to have grown in 2022:
- Singapore - 36%
- Indonesia - 34%
- Philippines - 25.9%
- India - 25.5%
- Argentina - 25.3%
- Australia - 20%
- Malaysia - 18.3%
- Thailand - 18.3%
- Mexico - 18%
- Brazil - 17.2%
Source: Statista, November 2022
Ecommerce sector statistics
Fashion is the highest-grossing ecommerce sector
Fashion has the biggest market share in 2022 of all ecommerce sectors. While it’s total revenue dipped by 2% from 2021, the fashion was still estimated to make $871.2 billion in ecommerce sales around the globe - the highest-grossing sector by a considerable margin.
Here’s a breakdown of all ecommerce sectors by their estimated revenue in 2022.
- Fashion - $871.2 billion
- Consumer electronics - $765.7 billion
- Toys, hobby & DIY - $601.7 billion
- Furniture - $387.7 billion
- Personal & household care - $368.2 billion
- Food - $244 billion
- Beverages - $207.9 billion
- Physical media (books, CDs, video games etc.) - $143.8 billion
Source: Data Report, January 2023
Food is the fastest-growing ecommerce sector
But that’s not the whole story. Although ranking 6th overall in terms of highest-earning ecommerce sectors, the food sector grew the most in 2022, adding an extra $16 billion to what it generated in 2021. Interestingly, the food and beverage industries were the only sectors across the ecommerce industry that grew in 2022.
Source: Data Report, January 2023
Statistics on ecommerce businesses
But what about the businesses who make up the ecommerce industry?
There are 12 million ecommerce companies in existence
It’s hard to get an exact figure on this one. In total, PipeCandy estimates there are about 12 million ecommerce operating around the globe - although this figure excludes those in China.
Source: PipeCandy, May 2022
WooCommerce is the most popular ecommerce platform
According to Builtwith, WooCommerce is the most popular ecommerce platform, with 6.1 million live online stores built using the tool. This comfortably beat Shopify’s 4.1 million live ecommerce sites.
This is how some of the most popular ecommerce tools rank in terms of the number of websites using them:
- WooCommerce - 6.1 million live websites
- Shopify - 4.1 million live ecommerce sites using Shopify. Of those, almost 23,000 are using Shopify Plus - which gives businesses greater flexibility and customisation.
- OpenCart - an open-source, PHP-built ecommerce platform, is used by 335,00 live websites
- PrestaShop - 264,000 active stores
- Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) - 148,000 live websites
- BigCommerce - 46,885 live websites
Source: Builtwith, March 2023
Which ecommerce stores are growing the fastest?
The fastest-growing ecommerce businesses in the UK
These DTC companies span different sectors, but they're mostly fashion brands, which (as we learnt earlier), is the highest-grossing ecommerce sector. These are the top 3 ecommerce companies which have seen rapid growth in the UK:
- Pinter, 626% revenue growth - they sell beautifully-designed, affordable home-brewing equipment.
- Progress Jiu Jitsu, 446% revenue growth - Manchester-based sports company who make high-quality items for jiu jitsu.
- Passenger Clothing, 362% revenue growth - Durable, stylish outdoor clothing for the adventurous. They're also a Dash customer (that's us!).
Source: Brightpearl, 2022
The fastest-growing ecommerce businesses in the UK
And here's the top 3 fastest growing ecommerce companies in the USA:
- Hunt Bike Wheels, 1357% revenue growth - they make high-quality bike wheels for the serious cyclist.
- J. Brooks Boutique, 170% revenue growth - based in Georgia, Atlanta, J. Brooks Boutique sell timeless clothes for women in bold, empowering colours.
- Analog Cases, 141% revenue growth - The answer travelling producers are looking for. They sell cases for audio producers to protect their gear whilst on the road.
Source: Brightpearl, 2022
Online shoppers: trends and behaviours in 2023
Consumer behaviour is shifting. Here’s some top-level online consumer trends to know in 2023.
4.11 billion people purchased goods online in 2022
More than half of the population of the entire world bought consumer goods online last year. That figure represents growth of 8% on 2021’s figure.
Source: Data Report, January 2023
57.6% of internet users buy something online at least weekly
As of January 2023, 57.6% of worldwide internet users buy something online at least once a week.
Here's the top 10 countries for 2023 whose percentage of internet users purchase an item online at least once a week:
- Thailand - 66.8%
- South Korea - 65.6%
- Turkey - 64.6%
- Mexico - 64.5%
- Chile - 62.7%
- Indonesia - 62.6%
- India - 62.3%
- UAE - 62.3%
- China - 61.9%
- Malaysia - 61.3%
For those wondering, USA is 19th on the list with 57.5%, which places it slightly below the global average of 57.6%.
Source: Data Report, January 2023
The global cost-of-living crisis is hitting online consumers
This should come as no surprise, but saving money and tightening budgets will impact online retail in 2023. 75% of consumers worldwide stated they aren’t planning on increasing their spending this year. Ecommerce brands should be making plans to weather this. One strategy is to make the most of loyal customers who are still spending money with them (more on this in our retention section).
Source: NACS, January 2023
Mobile shopping (mcommerce) statistics
Creating an effective mobile user experience should be a priority for ecommerce brands. Here's why you should take mobile commerce seriously:
60% of ecommerce purchases happened on a mobile device
This stat alone should prompt you to look at your site’s mobile experience. Shoppers used a mobile device to make more than half of the online ecommerce transactions which happened in 2022. That’s a 1.2% increase on last year. Brands should make sure their mobile websites are on point to take advantage of this.
Source: Data Report, January 2023
29% of internet users make an ecommerce transaction on their phones at least once a week
In 2023, 29.3% of mobile users shop on their devices at least once a week. This is only expected to grow in the coming years.
In some countries, that percentage is actually much higher. Here's the top 10 countries by mobile ecommerce purchases:
- South Korea - 44.3%
- Chile - 37.7.%
- Malaysia - 37.7%
- Taiwan - 37.7%
- Philippines - 37.5%
- Mexico - 37.0%
- Indonesia - 36.8%
- Turkey - 36.8%
- Singapore - 35.3%
- Vietnam - 34.4%
The USA’s mobile ecommerce purchase ratio is on 32.2%, whilst the UK’s comes in at 29.3%.
Source: Data Report, January 2023
Statistics on ecommerce conversions
Creating an effective mobile user experience should be a priority for ecommerce brands. Here's why you should take mobile commerce seriously:
What drives an online purchase?
Free delivery is the most convincing purchase driver
The top conversion incentive, by a considerable margin, is free shipping. 49.4% said free delivery would encourage them to complete a purchase.
These are the top 5 purchase drivers in 2023:
- Free shipping - 49.4%
- Coupons and discounts - 37.9%
- Reviews from other customers - 31.6%
- Easy returns policy - 30.4%
- Good user experience and easy checkout process - 28.2%
Source: Data Report, January 2023
Consumers spend more with free shipping
And what’s more, Shopify found this year that digital buyers will spend more on your products if they don’t have to pay for shipping. Here’s what they found:
- Shoppers order 2.5 items with free shipping, compared to 2 items with paid shipping
- Free shipping encourages online consumers to spend $3 more than median average item purchase
- Median order values increase, on average, by $22 with free shipping
Source: Shopify's Commerce Trends, 2023
What results in shopping cart abandonment?
Almost 70% of online shopping carts get abandoned
The reality of the average cart abandonment rate is probably a depressing statistic for ecommerce brands. After you’ve done all that work to convince a potential customer to add items to their basket, almost three-quarters will leave without checking out.
But if you know why they’re doing that, you can fix it. Keep reading.
Source: Baymard, 2023
Extra costs are the main reason for abandoned carts
Just as free shipping can encourage a purchase, extra shipping costs can discourage it. Baymard surveyed more than 2,000 US adult online shoppers on their buying experience. They found that extra costs caused 48% of abandoned carts, by far the leading blocker to an online shopper completing their checkout.
Here are the top 5 reasons online shoppers gave for abandoning their carts:
- Extra costs, like shipping, were too high - 48%
- They needed to create an account site - 24%
- Slow delivery - 22%
- They didn’t trust the site with their credit card information - 18%
- The checkout process was too long and/or complicated - 17%
Source: Baymard, 2023
Abandoned carts cost businesses $260 billion a year
Of all the potential ecommerce revenue abandoned carts represent, a whopping $260 billion a year could be recovered by companies. If there was ever a reason to optimise your checkout process and add a free shipping option, this is it!
Source: Baymard, 2023
Ecommerce marketing statistics
What about marketing? What marketing campaigns should you invest in this year to grow your online business? Use the following statistics to inform your ecommerce marketing strategy for 2023.
The importance of visual content for ecommerce brands
We’ll start here. Visual content is everything for a successful ecommerce brand. We’re talking video content, product photography, user-generated content (UGC), social ads. It can't be stressed enough how important high-quality imagery is.
Product photography is a major purchase driver
Shoppers want to know what we're buying. That’s tricky when you're selling online. How do you convince a would-be customer to part with hard-earned cash for a product that's not right in front of them?
Having great product photography is key. Product photos are very influential in the buying decisions of 75% of ecommerce shoppers.
Looking for inspiration? Here’s how to take great product photographs yourself.
Source: Weebly, 2018
Product explainer videos can make you $$$
Videos explaining how your product works are far more engaging than reading product descriptions. A study Google ran in 2019 found that videos helped 50% of online shoppers decide which product to buy. Here's more eye-popping video marketing statistics for 2023 you should be aware of.
Source: Google, 2019
📢 Don't settle for content chaos 📢
Creating more visual content doesn't have to equal chaos. If you're fed up with losing your files (and time) in a maze of Drive or Dropbox folders, there's a better way. Dash can be the new home for your visual content. It's used by ambitious ecommerce brands like COAT Paints and RJ Living to search for their content, share it with whoever they like, and get it ready for campaigns - fast. Setting up a free trial takes a few seconds, so what're you waiting for?
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Okay, that’s the end of my sales pitch. Let’s get back to those stats.
Statistics on ecommerce websites
Search engines are the top brand discovery channel
30% of shoppers ranked search engines as the top way they discovered new brands in 2023.
Here’s the highest-ranking channels online shoppers picked for brand discovery:
- Search engines (30.6%)
- Ads on TV (30.2%)
- Word-of-mouth recommendations (27.4%)
- Ads on social media (26.6%)
- Brand and product websites (23.3%)
The bottom line? Invest in your SEO strategy, folks.
Source: Data Report, January 2023
Of all potential online interactions, shoppers are most likely to visit your site
A website is the backbone of most ecommerce businesses. Of all the potential ways internet users interact with brands online, they're most likely to visit your website. 43.1% of internet users visited a brand website each month in 2022.
So don’t neglect your site. It’s a key part in creating online shopping experiences which convert. Make sure it runs smoothly on mobile devices, you’re using compelling product imagery and the site has been optimised for conversions.
Check out our tips for how to get more sales through your Shopify site, if you want some inspiration!
Source: Data Report, January 2023
Brands will increasingly use ecommerce marketplaces in 2023
27% of DTC brands are planning on increasing their ecommerce marketplace presence this year. In an increasingly competitive market, going where people are shopping online makes sense. Check out what ecommerce marketplace expert Jesse Wragg had to say about this.
And be warned. Each marketplace will require different product details and image ratios, so brush up on these before planning a launch!
Source: Shopify's Commerce Trends, 2023
Statistics on why social commerce is big in 2023
Social media and ecommerce are becoming increasingly integrated. 2023 will see that trend rise exponentially. If you’re not using your social media platform to drive sales yet, this year’s the time to do so.
26% of people first hear of a new brand through social media ads
Social ads aren’t just about driving sales. Ecommerce marketers should use social media ads to first drive awareness, too. 26% stated social media ads were how they heard about a new brand. Bear this in mind when creating your cold advertising campaigns for potential customers.
If you want to improve your social ads, take a peek at our articles on Instagram Ads and Facebook Ads for ecommerce brands. Both are packed full of ad inspiration from best-in-class DTC brands.
Source: Data Report, January 2023
49% of TikTok users say its influential when considering a purchase
This should make those still on the fence about TikTok for ecommerce think twice. Almost half of apps of the popular short-form video platform cite it as an important factor in deciding to make a purchase.
Source: Ecommerce Platforms, 2023
Gen Z are most likely to turn to social media sites for brand research
16-24 year-olds are the only generation more likely to turn to a social platform than a search engine to research your brand. If you’re going after Gen Z, you better make sure it’s easy for them to find product information through your social feed.
Source: Data Report, January 2023
Projected social commerce sales will hit $2,900 billion by 2026
Social commerce is growing, and it’s projected to make-up an even bigger slice of the ecommerce pie. In 2026, experts predict it’ll be worth $2,900 billion.
Source: Shopify's Commerce Trends, 2023
Statistics which prove the importance of customer loyalty and retention
You know what we said earlier about consumers tightening their belts earlier? To combat that, brands should have a strategy in place for creating personalised experiences and brand loyalty. Here’s why:
You’re more likely to sell to an existing customer than acquiring a new one
The probability of an ecommerce brand selling to an existing customer is 60-70%. Now compare that to the probability of selling to a new customer, which hovers around 5-20%. Setting up a retention email campaign is a great way to start taking advantage of this.
Loyalty increases a customers worth by 22 times
According to Shopify’s latest 2023 trends report, loyal online customers are worth 22 times more to your business than new or fair-weather customers.
40% of shoppers will pay more for products from a trusted brand
Customers who are loyal to your brand put their money where their mouth is. Almost half of them will still spend money with you, even if there are cheaper alternatives offered by brands they don’t trust yet.
Source: All statistics in this loyalty and retention section taken from Shopify's Commerce Trends, 2023
How to get ahead of the ecommerce game in 2023
Now you've got the latest ecommerce statistics, where do you go from here?
The key areas ecommerce businesses should focus on all have a key pillar at their core.
We’re talking about visual content. Think about it. All of these 2023 strategies we’ve covered, from launching on a new online marketplace to supercharging your personalised experiences are nothing without high-performing visual content. And a lot of it.
If you’re one of the many ecommerce brands still using Google Drive or Dropbox to manage your visuals, you’re going to run into difficulties quickly.
Instead, you need a tool to organise, share and send your visuals - like Dash. Here’s how leading DTC brands are using Dash to meet their business goals:
🎨 COAT Paints use Dash to do their beautiful, high-quality imagery justice
🪴 Haws get visual assets to the 100s of shops who sell their products using Dash
🌿 CBD brand Goodrays keep on top of all their ecommerce marketplace assets with Dash
👟 Streetwear company Filling Pieces ditched Drive for Dash (and never looked back)
Ready to see what all the fuss is about? Set up your no-strings free trial in seconds.
