Businesses measure everything. From the performance of email campaigns to the popularity of social media posts to conversion rates, who doesn’t love some statistics every now and then? And, with online shopping projected to make up 95% of purchases by 2040, ecommerce data is becoming a necessary resource to inform your online marketing strategy. We’ve gathered some important statistics to help guide your ecommerce efforts – enjoy!
Demographics
Millennials and Gen Z spend the largest amounts of money on products they see on Instagram and Snapchat.
67% of millennials prefer to shop online instead of in a physical store location.
It was found that men tend to make fewer online purchases than women but spend more money per purchase.
Shoppers in the United States spent $5 billion making online purchases during Black Friday, 2017.
Parents spend over 60% more online than do people who are not parents.
The age distribution of online shoppers is fairly evenly spread with millennials accounting for 30%, Gen X for 34%, and Baby Boomers for 31% of online purchasing.
Takeaway: Understand your target audience – their pain points, their needs and wants, and most importantly, their online behavior. Demographic statistics are only as “good” as they are relevant to your business.
Mobile Commerce Statistics
Mobile ecommerce is projected to bring in over 70% of all ecommerce sales by 2021.
It has been predicted that mobile ecommerce sales will account for over 44% of all US ecommerce sales in 2019.
More than 50% of Americans have made a purchase using their smartphone.
40% of mobile shoppers will leave a page that takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Mobile conversion rates still account for less than half of desktop conversion rates.
Mobile ecommerce experienced more than 300% growth from 2014-2017.
Takeaway: Your brand’s website should be mobile friendly and device responsive. A high level of continuity in the way you present your brand content creates a level of trust with consumers who are using their mobile device for research and completing the purchase on a laptop or desktop.
Payment Methods
6% of online consumers say mobile wallets like Google Pay or Apple Pay are their preferred method of payment.
PayPal transactions have a considerably higher completion rate than non-PayPal transactions.
By 2020, mobile wallets are projected to surpass both debit and credit card purchases.
Global mobile payments are expected to increase by more than 33% by 2022.
Credit cards are, globally, the most preferred (42%) method of payment followed closely by other electronic payment methods such as PayPal (39%).
When it comes to the safety of online purchases, 42% of consumers feel that credit cards are the safest option.
Takeaway: Don’t worry about getting on the cryptocurrency wagon but do make sure you offer multiple payment options at checkout. Third party platforms such as PayPal and mobile wallets will continue to be popular choices given the additional layer of security they offer to transactions.
Multi-channel Shopping
98% of Americans go back and forth between devices multiple times throughout the day.
39% of shoppers viewed items on a brand’s website before making a purchase in a physical store.
59% of customers finished their purchase on a different device than the one they started on.
33% of digital consumers looked to find a price match online for a product they viewed in a physical retail store.
A strong multi-channel presence helps brand retain as many as 89% of their customers.
Shoppers who use multiple channels in their search and purchase spend 3 times more than shoppers utilizing a single channel.
Takeaway: First and foremost, if you have a local, brick and mortar store, you also need to establish a digital presence on the web and social media platforms. Assume that consumers will be looking at your content on every channel you use. Make sure your messaging and design are consistent between platforms and that all channels are updated on a regular basis.
Social Media Influence
84% of American digital consumers review a minimum of one social media platform before making a purchase.
Brands that have a social media presence have an average of 32% more sales than brands without a social media presence.
The Facebook community of an average ecommerce brand is growing by 8% each month.
48% of Americans have interacted with brands on at least one social media platform.
Three-quarters of Instagram users have taken some sort of further action after viewing an advertising post on the platform.
More than a quarter of Americans stated they would rather engage with a brand on social media than visit a retail location.
Takeaway: Social media platforms are excellent channels through which you can build brand awareness. Regularly post to your social media accounts and utilize the built-in analytics to understand which of your content performs best with your target audience.
Cart Abandonment
The overall percentage of abandoned carts ranges from as low as 50% to as high as 80%.
60% of online shoppers will abandon their carts due to unexpected costs that are not disclosed prior to checkout such as shipping, tax, and other types of fees.
60% of consumers also abandon their carts because they were asked for information they did not care to share.
Emails sent within the first 20 minutes after a shopping cart is abandoned yield a conversion rate around 5% which is higher than the conversion rates of emails sent after that length of time.
Abandoned cart emails are opened at an average rate of 45% making them well worth the effort.
23% of online shoppers will abandon their cart if forced to create a user account to complete the purchase.
Takeaway: It is important to understand why consumers abandon their carts so you can eliminate those barriers. Only ask for information essential to the completion of the sale. Set up automated abandoned cart emails to be sent within the first 20 minutes after a site visitor abandons his cart.
Shipping
75% of online shoppers are more likely to buy from brands that offer free shipping.
75% of consumers expect free shipping, even on orders under $50.
18% of shoppers say that shipping costs are their least favorite part of shopping online.
34% of consumers say they will only purchase online if free shipping is an option.
Almost a quarter of online shoppers will spend more money to qualify for free shipping.
PayPal found that 43% of shoppers will abandon their cart if they think the shipping charges are too high.
Takeaway: Free shipping has become an expectation. Best to calculate those figures into the pricing of the products you offer online and declare a modest minimum spending requirement if you determine that will be productive in your sales efforts.
In the last year, more than 96% of American adults used an online retail option. Ecommerce sales worldwide amounted to 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars in 2017. Online sales are projected to grow to over 4 trillion U.S. dollars by 2021. Consumers’ need for around the clock access to shopping will continue to increase and will only push the spending and earning rates higher, year after year.
The team at Strategy Driven Marketing has years of experience with everything ecommerce. From store design, product pages and descriptions, marketing, analytics, and more, we’ve worked with clients from businesses of all sizes and across multiple industries. Want to make the most out of your brand’s ecommerce efforts? Contact us today!
Cover photo by bruce mars from Pexels