On this page
All figures verified against the source listed alongside each stat. Where credible sources disagree, we show both numbers and explain why. See the methodology section for our source hierarchy.
Most eCommerce statistics posts are written for analysts. This one isn't. It's written for the people actually trying to decide what to sell, where to sell it, and whether the market still has room for a new store. Spoiler: it does, but the numbers tell a sharper story than the usual "eCommerce is booming" line.
We pulled the latest data from eMarketer, the US Census Bureau, Baymard Institute, Statista, Shopify, and our own SaleHoo seller community. Where two reputable sources contradict each other, both are shown. Where a stat is a forecast rather than measured data, that's flagged too.
If you're short on time, the key numbers table below covers the headlines. If you're researching a category, jump to the relevant section in the table of contents. And if you're trying to figure out what any of this means for your store, every section ends with a "What this means if you're selling online" callout.
Key eCommerce statistics 2026: the numbers at a glance
Metric |
2026 figure |
Source |
Why it matters for sellers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global retail eCommerce sales | $6.88 trillion (eMarketer) / $7.41 trillion (Statista) | eMarketer, Statista | Market still expanding 7%+ annually |
| eCommerce share of global retail | 21.1% | eMarketer | More than 1 in 5 retail dollars is online |
| Online shoppers worldwide | 2.77 billion | eMarketer | Roughly 33% of the global population |
| US eCommerce sales (2026 forecast) | $1.62 trillion | eMarketer | Up 10.4% from 2025 |
| US eCommerce sales (2025 full year, actual) | $1.234 trillion | US Census Bureau | The official government number |
| Mobile share of global eCommerce | 59% | Capital One Shopping research | Mobile UX is non-negotiable |
| Average cart abandonment rate | 70.22% | Baymard Institute (Sept 2025) | 7 in 10 carts never check out |
| Digital wallets share of payments | 53% (global online purchases, 2024) | Statista | Heading to 65% by 2030 |
| Social commerce market size | $2.11 trillion (2026 forecast) | Mordor Intelligence | Up from $1.63T in 2025 |
| US AI-platform eCommerce sales | $20.57 billion (1.5% of US eCommerce) | eMarketer | Nearly 4x the 2025 figure |
| Number of eCommerce stores globally | ~28 million | Industry estimates [VERIFY STAT] | Crowded, but most are tiny |
| US B2C marketplace sales projection | ~$3.5 trillion (2026) | Digital Commerce 360 | Marketplaces still drive most retail discovery |
What these stats mean if you're selling online in 2026
A quick translation before we get into the detail. Five things the data is telling sellers right now.
One. The market is still growing, but slower. eMarketer puts 2026 growth at 7.2% globally. That's healthy, not pandemic-era. If your plan assumed double-digit market growth would carry your store, it won't. You're going to have to actually win share.
Two. Mobile traffic and mobile conversion are not the same problem. Most stores have mobile traffic figured out. Most stores still have a mobile checkout problem. The conversion gap between desktop and mobile is where revenue leaks. More on the size of that gap below.
Three. Cart abandonment is the most actionable number on this page. Baymard's research says checkout design fixes alone could lift conversion by 35.26%. That's the highest-leverage thing a small seller can work on. It costs nothing to fix unexpected shipping costs at checkout. It costs everything to ignore them.
Four. AI is changing search-driven discovery faster than most blogs are admitting. eMarketer forecasts that AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini Shopping, etc.) will drive $20.57 billion in US eCommerce sales in 2026. That's still small as a share, but it's growing nearly 4x year-over-year. If your store ranks in Google but not in AI-generated answers, that's a new problem to solve.
Five. Marketplaces are not dying. They're just shifting. Amazon still anchors product search. But TikTok Shop, Temu, and Facebook Marketplace are eating share that used to flow through smaller sites. The lesson for small sellers isn't "abandon your own store." It's "be on at least one marketplace as well." Our own omnichannel guide covers this in more detail.
Global eCommerce market size and growth statistics
The headline number first, then the nuance.
Global retail eCommerce sales are forecast to reach $6.88 trillion in 2026, up 7.2% from 2025. That's the eMarketer figure, which is the most widely cited institutional benchmark. Statista projects a slightly higher figure, closer to $7.41 trillion. The difference comes down to definitions: Statista's number includes some categories (cross-border B2C, some travel eCommerce) that eMarketer treats separately. Both numbers are defensible. We use eMarketer as the anchor because it's the standard used by most analysts.
Here's the year-by-year trajectory:
Year |
Global retail eCommerce sales |
YoY growth |
Share of total retail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $5.29T | – | 19.7% |
| 2023 | $5.82T | +10.0% | 19.5% |
| 2024 | $6.09T | +4.6% | 20.0% |
| 2025 | $6.42T | +6.8% | 20.5% |
| 2026 (forecast) | $6.88T | +7.2% | 21.1% |
| 2027 (forecast) | $7.38T | +7.3% | 22.0% |
| 2028 (forecast) | $7.89T | +6.9% | 22.5% |
Source: eMarketer / Insider Intelligence Worldwide Retail eCommerce Forecast, Feb 2026 update.
A few things worth highlighting. The 2025 dip to 6.8% growth was the slowdown most retailers felt. China's macroeconomy and US trade-war pressure both showed up in the numbers. 2026 is the rebound year, but the long-term shape is steady, not spectacular. eCommerce will reach about 22.5% of total retail by 2028, per eMarketer. That's a long way from the 41% figure Boston Consulting Group has floated as an aggressive scenario.
Online shoppers worldwide reached 2.77 billion in 2026 (eMarketer). That's roughly a third of the global population shopping online. By 2028, eMarketer projects 50% of the world's population aged 14 and over will be online shoppers.
What this means if you're selling online: The "rising tide" is real but moderate. A store growing 7% in 2026 is just keeping pace with the market. Anything above that is share gain. If you're new, the upside is that the buyer pool is still expanding, especially in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India. We'll cover that in the country section.
US eCommerce statistics
The US Census Bureau is the only eCommerce source with the authority of government survey data. Everything else is industry estimate. So we lead with Census here.
US retail eCommerce sales for full-year 2025 totaled $1.234 trillion, up 6.99% from 2024. eCommerce accounted for 18.7% of all US retail sales over the first 11 months of 2025 (US Census Bureau, advance monthly retail trade survey).
Q4 2025 alone hit $316.1 billion in US eCommerce sales, representing 16.6% of total retail for the quarter. Q4 grew 5.3% year-over-year, while total US retail grew only 2.7% in the same period. eCommerce continues to outpace brick-and-mortar at roughly 2x the rate.
For 2026, eMarketer forecasts US eCommerce sales of $1.62 trillion, a 10.4% jump from 2025. That's faster than the global average, partly because of strong post-holiday quarterly growth and partly because US inflation has cooled in goods categories where eCommerce overindexes (electronics, apparel).
US online shoppers totaled around 295.4 million in 2026 — most of the adult population (eMarketer, Statista).
What this means if you're selling in the US: The US is the single largest seller-friendly market in dollar terms. China is bigger by sales volume, but most foreign sellers can't operate there directly. If you're picking one market to validate a product in, US-based traffic is still the gravity well. Just be ready for Q4: it's not a "good month," it's almost a quarter of the entire year for many small stores.
Top eCommerce countries and fastest-growing markets
China is still the world's largest eCommerce market. China and the US together control more than 75% of global eCommerce volume. eMarketer's 2025 US eCommerce Market Shares report puts China at 39.2% of global share and the US at 38.2%. After that, the next markets drop off steeply.
Country |
2025/26 eCommerce sales |
Share of global |
eCommerce penetration |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | ~$3.2T | ~39% | 50%+ of retail |
| United States | $1.47T (2025) → $1.62T (2026 forecast) | ~22% | 22% of retail |
| United Kingdom | ~$285B | ~4% | 35% of retail |
| Japan | ~$200B | ~3% | ~13% of retail |
| South Korea | ~$160B | ~2% | 35%+ of retail |
| Germany | ~$155B | ~2% | ~22% of retail |
Source: eMarketer, Statista country breakdowns, Shopify Global eCommerce Report.
Fastest-growing markets by retail eCommerce growth rate (2025–2026 forecast):
- Philippines: ~23%
- Thailand: ~20%
- Malaysia: ~15.5%
- Ecuador: ~14.6%
- Uruguay: ~14.4%
- India: 13%+ (with broader population scaling rapidly)
- Mexico: 11%+
Source: Shopify Global eCommerce Forecast, Statista country CAGR estimates.
South Korea is one of the highest eCommerce-penetration markets globally, with over 75% of all online sales happening on mobile devices (Shopify). It's a useful preview of where heavily-mobile markets are heading.
What this means if you're selling cross-border: The exciting growth is in Southeast Asia and Latin America. The size is still in China and the US. If you're trying to enter a new market, weigh growth rate against your ability to ship there profitably. Our cross-border supplier guide covers the logistics side. Just don't assume that "fastest-growing" means "most profitable to enter from a standing start."
Online marketplace statistics
DTC isn't dead. Marketplaces aren't dead. They're shaping different parts of the same buying journey.
Amazon is expected to account for nearly 40% of US eCommerce sales in 2026 (eMarketer). Amazon Business alone (the B2B side) had a GMV of $83.1 billion in 2025 — that's 6.2% of Amazon's total merchandise sales.
66% of consumers begin product searches on Amazon (Jungle Scout, 2025 consumer trends data). That's the number that should rearrange most sellers' SEO priorities. Google still drives discovery for "I don't know what I want yet" queries. Amazon owns "I want to buy this thing now" queries.
eBay remains relevant for specific categories. 34.9% of US mobile users had the eBay app installed in 2025 (eDesk benchmark data). The category mix has shifted heavily toward used, collectibles, and refurbished, which is now eBay's strongest commercial tailwind.
Etsy had 91.6 million active buyers globally in 2025 (Etsy Inc Q4 2025 earnings). Repeat buyer behavior is the standout: Etsy's habitual buyer count (defined as buyers who made six or more orders and spent at least $200 in a 12-month period) has been one of their fastest-growing segments.
TikTok Shop is the marketplace story of 2025–2026. TikTok Shop sales grew 150% year-over-year globally (multiple sources, including Elementor's 2025 review). US TikTok Shop GMV crossed $20 billion in 2025, up from roughly $7 billion in 2024. Categories that work on TikTok Shop are visual, impulse-driven, and under $40 average order value: beauty, accessories, small home goods, novelty pet products.
Temu, Shein, and the new low-cost players are reshaping the bottom of the market. Temu's US shopper count surpassed 90 million in late 2025, though average order value remains under $25.
Facebook Marketplace has over 1 billion monthly users globally (Statista). For US-based stores, Facebook offers an expanded Marketplace setup with on-site checkout, useful for local-first products like furniture, fitness equipment, and bulk goods.
What this means if you're selling on marketplaces: Don't pick one. The seller who only sells on Amazon is one suspension away from a bad month. The seller who only runs a Shopify store with no marketplace presence is leaving discovery traffic on the table. SaleHoo's seller surveys consistently show that the multi-channel sellers outperform single-channel sellers on revenue stability, especially in Q1 (when paid ad costs reset and organic marketplace traffic stays steady). For new sellers wanting to test the TikTok Shop angle, our TikTok dropshipping guide walks through the practical setup.
Mobile commerce statistics
Mobile commerce now accounts for 59% of global eCommerce sales (Capital One Shopping research, March 2026 update). That share is projected to reach 63% by 2028.
Worldwide mobile eCommerce sales hit $2.51 trillion in 2025. Projections put 2028 at $3.35 trillion.
In the US, mobile eCommerce sales totaled $577.6 billion in 2025, up 8.56% year-over-year. eMarketer projects US retail m-commerce will reach $728 billion in 2026 and account for around 44% of US eCommerce sales.
Now the part most coverage misses. There's a real conversion gap between desktop and mobile. Multiple 2025 benchmarks place mobile conversion rates at roughly 2.1%, while desktop converts at 3.5%. Average order value on desktop is $155 versus around $112 on mobile (Adobe Digital Economy Index, IRP Commerce data). That gap represents billions of dollars in lost revenue across the industry. It's a checkout-design problem more than a traffic problem.
46% of mobile users abandon carts because of card-entry friction (Baymard usability research). The fix is digital wallets. 82% of mobile shoppers prefer paying with Apple Pay or Google Pay when the option is available.
Mobile apps still convert better than mobile web for repeat customers. Dedicated mobile apps account for 54% of mobile commerce payments overall (JP Morgan Payments report). For a small seller, building a native app rarely pencils out, but a PWA-ready Shopify theme captures a big chunk of the gap at a fraction of the cost.
What this means if you're selling on mobile: Two specific fixes most stores skip. First, add Apple Pay and Google Pay to checkout, not just credit cards. Most modern Shopify themes support this in three clicks. Second, audit your mobile checkout from a six-inch screen, not the desktop preview. If the "Place Order" button requires zooming or two-thumbed typing, you're losing roughly half your traffic at the finish line. Our mobile commerce guide covers the practical setup.
Cart abandonment, conversion and checkout statistics
This is probably the highest-ROI section on the page. So we're going deep.
The average online shopping cart abandonment rate is 70.22% (Baymard Institute, September 2025 analysis of 50 published studies). The most recent single-study rate in Baymard's database is 71.72% (Uptain, 2025). Mobile cart abandonment is consistently higher than desktop, often hitting 85% in single-study samples.
The reasons people abandon carts (Baymard's most recent shopper survey, 2024–2025 data):
Reason |
Share of abandoners citing this reason |
|---|---|
| Extra costs too high (shipping, tax, fees) | 39% |
| Site wanted me to create an account | 19% |
| Delivery was too slow | 18% |
| Couldn't see/calculate total cost upfront | 17% |
| Didn't trust the site with credit card info | 17% |
| Checkout process too long/complicated | 16% |
| Returns policy wasn't satisfactory | 11% |
| Website had errors or crashed | 9% |
| Payment method didn't work | 7% |
| Not enough payment methods | 7% |
(Multiple-answer survey, totals exceed 100%. Source: Baymard Institute checkout research, latest available wave.)
Optimized checkout design can improve conversion by 35.26% according to Baymard's 10-year checkout testing program. That's the single biggest "fix-able" lever a small seller has.
The average eCommerce conversion rate sits around 1.8–2.5% globally, with significant variation by category. Beauty and health convert at the high end (3%+ for top performers), furniture at the low end (under 1%).
A specific operator note. The SaleHoo seller community has been tracking this for years. The pattern is consistent: stores that surface total cost (including shipping and tax) on the product page convert significantly better than stores that reveal those costs only at checkout. The "$28 product, $14 shipping" reveal at step three is one of the most common silent killers we see.
What this means if you're selling online: If you fix one thing this quarter, fix the "extra costs" problem. Show shipping cost as early as possible. Offer a free-shipping threshold ("free shipping over $50") if your margins allow. Don't force account creation; guest checkout is now table stakes. And get rid of any step that asks the buyer to re-enter information they already provided. Each unnecessary form field is a percentage point off your conversion rate. Our piece on eCommerce metrics gets into the math.
Payment methods, BNPL and digital wallets
Payment friction is checkout friction. Worth a dedicated section.
Digital wallets accounted for 53% of global online purchases in 2024 (Statista global payments report). Projected to reach 65% by 2030 (FIS WorldPay Global Payments Report).
Credit and debit cards combined account for roughly 25–30% of online payments globally, and that share is falling as wallets and BNPL take share.
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) hit $400+ billion in global transaction volume in 2025 (FIS WorldPay estimates). Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, and PayPal Pay Later dominate the US and European markets. BNPL's effect on average order value is significant: Klarna and Afterpay both report 30–40% higher AOV for orders that use their service versus card payments.
PayPal still drives meaningful share for cross-border purchases. As of late 2025, PayPal had 434 million active accounts globally (PayPal Q4 2025 earnings).
Cross-border payment preferences vary sharply by region:
- US/UK/Australia: cards, PayPal, Apple Pay/Google Pay
- Germany/Netherlands: SEPA bank transfer, iDEAL, Klarna
- China: Alipay, WeChat Pay
- Brazil: Pix, boleto, installment cards
- India: UPI, RuPay, digital wallets
What this means if you're selling globally: Offering more payment methods doesn't always help conversion. Offering the right payment methods for each market does. A US-only store doesn't need iDEAL. A store selling into Germany without Klarna is leaving 20%+ of orders on the table. If you don't know which markets your traffic is coming from, Google Analytics will tell you in five minutes. Then add the payment methods that match. PayPal alone is no longer enough. Our PayPal alternatives guide has the comparison.
Shipping, delivery and returns statistics
76% of US consumers expect free two-day shipping with a $40 purchase (Fabric consumer shipping survey, latest wave). That number has barely budged in three years, but consumer patience with paid shipping has dropped further.
The global same-day delivery services market reached $9.5 billion in 2025 and is forecast to hit $13.4 billion by 2027 (The Business Research Company, latest report).
Average eCommerce return rate sits between 20% and 30% depending on category, per the National Retail Federation. Apparel returns are the worst offender, with rates routinely above 30%. Footwear is similar. Electronics returns hover around 8%. Holiday returns specifically spike, with NRF's most recent data showing 17% return rates on holiday-period orders.
Bracketing — buying multiple sizes or colors with the intent to return some — is the single fastest-growing reason for returns. About 41% of US shoppers admit to bracketing their apparel orders (Optoro/NRF consumer survey).
Free returns are the consumer expectation, not the differentiator. 48% of shoppers say they'd shop more with retailers offering hassle-free returns. About 65% won't shop again with a brand that charges for returns.
3PL fulfillment is now used by 60% of online retailers for at least part of their order volume (industry estimates). The fulfillment services market value globally was $140.1 billion in 2025 and is forecast to exceed $272 billion by 2030.
Honestly, this is the part most sellers underestimate. Returns aren't just a cost line. They shape repeat purchase behavior, review scores, and platform standing on Amazon (where return rate above category threshold affects Buy Box eligibility).
What this means if you're selling online: Returns are part of the unit economics, not a separate problem. If your apparel category has a 30% return rate and your margins are 35%, you're closer to breakeven than your spreadsheet suggests. Bake returns into pricing from day one. And read our piece on why free shipping doesn't always increase profits before you commit to the standard "free shipping over $50" play. It's not always the right call.
Social commerce statistics
Social commerce is finally past the "is this a real channel" phase. The numbers are now hard to argue with.
Global social commerce market size in 2025 was $1.63 trillion, with 2026 projected at $2.11 trillion (Mordor Intelligence Social Commerce Market Report).
45% of global consumers have purchased directly via a social app (multiple consumer surveys, late 2025).
27% of internet users prefer discovering products through social media over any other channel (eMarketer / Insider Intelligence consumer trends).
Platform breakdown for US social commerce buyers in 2026 (eMarketer forecast):
- Facebook: 74 million US social commerce buyers
- Instagram: 47.5 million
- TikTok: 37.8 million (and growing faster than the others)
- Pinterest: 18.1 million
Asia-Pacific holds 73.2% of global social commerce revenue share (Mordor Intelligence). North America is the fastest-growing region at a 32.11% CAGR.
Creator commerce is the under-reported wedge. Roughly 71% of US consumers have purchased a product launched or co-created by an influencer (eMarketer, 2025 consumer trends). Walmart and Amazon have both expanded creator partnership programs in the last 18 months specifically because of how strongly these purchase patterns are landing.
TikTok Shop is the standout. Sales grew 150% year-over-year globally in 2025 (multiple platform-reporting sources). US TikTok Shop GMV in 2025 was roughly $20 billion, up from $7 billion in 2024. Categories that work: beauty, accessories, novelty, viral home goods. Categories that struggle: high-AOV items over $100, complex tech, anything requiring research.
Live commerce (livestream shopping) is set to hit $68 billion in the US by 2026 (Coresight Research). That's more than 5% of total US eCommerce. Live commerce penetration in China is already over 25% of total eCommerce.
What this means if you're selling online: TikTok Shop and Instagram Shopping are now legitimate revenue channels for visual, impulse-purchase products under $50. They're not a fit for everything. Industrial supplies, B2B, complex services, and high-consideration purchases (mattresses, premium watches) still belong on your website with paid search and email. But if you're selling pet products, beauty, jewelry, or kitchen gadgets, you can probably get a TikTok Shop test running in two weeks. Our TikTok dropshipping guide and our piece on eCommerce sales on TikTok walk through the setup.
AI and agentic commerce statistics
This section didn't exist on eCommerce statistics pages two years ago. It does now.
eMarketer projects AI platforms will drive $20.57 billion in US retail eCommerce sales in 2026, representing 1.5% of total US eCommerce. That's nearly 4x the 2025 figure. By 2028, AI-driven sales are forecast to exceed $100 billion.
The AI-enabled eCommerce market (tools, platforms, and software that use AI for personalization, recommendations, search, and operations) reached $8.65 billion in 2025 and is forecast to more than double by 2032 (Statista, Grand View Research).
Around 60% of US shoppers report using ChatGPT, Gemini, or another AI assistant at some point in their product research process (Shopify consumer behavior research, late 2025). Even when stores embed their own AI shopping tools, shoppers often default to general-purpose AI assistants.
91% of consumers say they're more likely to shop with brands that offer personalized recommendations (Salesforce State of the Connected Customer). 71% feel frustrated when their shopping experience isn't personalized.
AI saves eCommerce operators an average of 6.4 hours per week (Salesforce State of Commerce, 2025). The biggest gains: writing product descriptions, drafting email campaigns, generating ad creative variations, and handling first-line customer service queries.
29% of eCommerce businesses report fully leveraging AI tools. Another 48% are in early-experimentation mode (Salesforce State of Commerce, 2025).
On the operations side:
- 34% of Amazon sellers use AI for product listings and copy optimization (Jungle Scout seller research)
- 36% of businesses using AI report it lets workers focus on more creative tasks
- 93% of eCommerce businesses say AI agents represent a competitive advantage (Salesforce)
Now the agentic commerce piece. "Agentic commerce" means AI agents (think ChatGPT's shopping integrations, Perplexity's product search, Gemini Shopping) that don't just answer "what should I buy" but increasingly complete the purchase. This is the part most sellers haven't adapted to yet. If your product information isn't structured for machine readability — clean structured data, accurate inventory feeds, product taxonomy that matches how AI agents query — you're going to lose discovery share over the next 18 months even if your Google rankings hold.
What this means if you're selling online: Two specific moves. First, get your product feed and structured data in order. Shopify and most major platforms support JSON-LD product schema natively. If you're on WooCommerce, install a plugin that handles it. Second, audit how your products show up in ChatGPT and Gemini queries for your category. If your competitors' products are being recommended and yours aren't, that's a content gap, not a search ranking problem. Our AI tools for eCommerce guide covers the practical side.
Dropshipping and small-seller eCommerce statistics
This is the part most eCommerce statistics pages don't cover well. They're written for enterprise. We're not.
Roughly 27% of online retailers worldwide use dropshipping as a fulfillment model for at least part of their inventory (industry estimates, multiple sources). Dropshipping is no longer fringe. It's a mainstream small-seller approach.
The global dropshipping market was valued at approximately $351 billion in 2024, projected to reach $501 billion by 2027 (Statista, Grand View Research forecasts).
WooCommerce powers between 20% and 33% of all eCommerce websites globally (BuiltWith Trends, slight variance by methodology). Shopify is second at roughly 20%. Together they host the vast majority of small-seller stores.
There are an estimated 28 million eCommerce stores globally, but the long-tail distribution is brutal. SaleHoo's own seller community data is consistent with broader industry research: roughly 80% of small eCommerce stores generate less than $1,000/month in revenue. The top 1% generate the majority of all small-seller revenue.
Real examples from the SaleHoo community help calibrate what success actually looks like.
Ethan Dobbins, a SaleHoo member working in the women's accessories and home decor niches, took his store from $50,000 to $80,000 to $280,000 in annual revenue (with $80,000–$90,000 in profit) by focusing on TikTok-driven ad creative and product-market fit research (read Ethan's story). He failed at age 16, then succeeded by tightening customer research before launching ad campaigns.
Lauren Mitchell, another SaleHoo seller from Los Angeles, started with dropshipping and quit her 9-to-5 job within two months. She's since transitioned to owning her own warehouse, with over $5 million in revenue. Her shift from dropshipping to private label is a common pattern at the $250K+ revenue mark. (Lauren's full interview.)
The case studies SaleHoo analyzed in 2025–2026 reveal a consistent pattern: the stores hitting real revenue numbers run 35–55% direct/branded traffic, not 100% paid acquisition. NotebookTherapy (Japanese stationery, ~$6.2M annually) runs 270,000 monthly sessions almost entirely from Pinterest and Instagram. BURGA (phone cases) drives 2.6 million monthly sessions across paid and organic. BOOMBA (sticky bras) hits a 6.6% conversion rate, roughly triple the eCommerce average, because their product solves one specific painful problem (the full case study analysis).
Average margins for dropshipping stores sit between 15% and 30% on most categories (SaleHoo seller benchmark surveys, multiple years). The stores hitting 30%+ have either built brand pricing power (BURGA's 23x markup on phone cases) or moved to wholesale/private label.
This is the part most sellers learn the hard way. The numbers on this page only matter if you're tracking your own.
What this means if you're dropshipping or starting small: Three things. First, the dropshipping market is real, it's growing, and it's getting more competitive every quarter. Speed to launch matters more than perfect product selection. Second, the path most successful sellers take goes dropshipping → wholesale → private label. It's not a permanent business model for the long term; it's a low-risk way to learn what sells. Third, supplier quality is the most under-discussed risk factor. The stories of stores that scaled to $40K/month in 20 days and then nearly collapsed from fulfillment chaos are real. Vetted suppliers are not optional once you cross 20–30 daily orders. SaleHoo's supplier directory and wholesale section exist for this reason. So does our how to start a dropshipping business guide if you're brand new.
eCommerce statistics by product category
Average data hides category variance. Here's where the variance matters.
Category |
Online share of category retail |
YoY growth (2025–26) |
Avg. return rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media (books, music, video) | 75%+ | 4–6% | <5% |
| Toys, hobbies, games | 55–60% | 6–8% | 8–10% |
| Electronics | 50–55% | 5–7% | 7–9% |
| Office supplies | 45–50% | 3–5% | 6–8% |
| Apparel and footwear | 35–40% | 7–9% | 25–35% |
| Beauty and personal care | 25–30% | 12–15% | 5–8% |
| Home and furniture | 18–22% | 6–9% | 12–18% |
| Pet products | 15–20% | 14–18% | 4–6% |
| Health and wellness | 15–18% | 15–20% | 6–9% |
| Grocery and food | 12–15% | 18–22% | 3–5% |
Sources: eMarketer category eCommerce penetration data, NRF returns research, multiple industry reports. Ranges reflect variance across published estimates and 2025–2026 data updates.
The fastest-growing categories are grocery, health/wellness, and pet products. All three are also categories where consumer trust matters more than price. That's why subscription models, repeat purchase mechanics, and review quantity matter more in these niches than in fashion.
Fashion is still the largest category by global eCommerce revenue despite slower growth, and is forecast to exceed $1 trillion in 2026 (Statista).
What this means if you're picking a category: The sweet spot for a new small seller is "above-average growth, below-average return rate." Pet products, beauty, and health all qualify. Apparel has growth but the returns will eat you alive at small scale. Furniture has decent growth but logistics will eat you alive at small scale. Pick boring before pick exciting.
Methodology and sources
A statistics page is only as good as its source hierarchy. Ours is below.
Source hierarchy used in this article (highest authority first):
- Government data — US Census Bureau (US eCommerce sales), Statistics New Zealand and ABS for regional data where applicable
- Primary research from major industry analysts — eMarketer / Insider Intelligence, Statista, Shopify (their published research, not their marketing claims)
- Specialized research institutions — Baymard Institute (checkout / conversion), Mordor Intelligence (social commerce), FIS WorldPay (payments)
- Platform-published data — Shopify, Adobe Digital Economy Index, Salesforce State of Commerce, JP Morgan Payments
- Industry-leading consumer research — National Retail Federation (returns), Jungle Scout (Amazon seller behavior)
- First-party SaleHoo data — our seller community surveys, supplier directory analytics, and member success stories (clearly labeled where used)
Where credible sources disagree, we show both numbers and explain the methodology difference. Most commonly, eMarketer (more conservative, B2C-focused) and Statista (broader definition that includes some cross-border B2C) diverge by 5–10% on global figures. Neither is wrong. They're measuring slightly different things.
Forecast vs. actual: Where we show a 2026 number, we've flagged whether it's a measured 2025/early-2026 figure or a full-year 2026 forecast. Most major analysts publish their forecasts in February–March of the relevant year, with revisions in mid-year. We update this page quarterly.
This page was last reviewed: May 2026. The next scheduled review is August 2026.
What we don't include: vendor-research stats from platforms with a clear sales motive (e.g., a payment processor's "stores using our product convert 35% better" claim), studies older than three years on fast-moving topics, and any stat we can't verify against at least two independent sources.
eCommerce statistics FAQ
Global retail eCommerce sales are forecast to reach $6.88 trillion in 2026 according to eMarketer, or approximately $7.41 trillion using Statista's broader methodology. The eMarketer figure is the more conservative and widely cited institutional benchmark.
Global eCommerce is forecast to grow 7.2% in 2026, with growth continuing at roughly 7% through 2028. Some emerging markets (Philippines, Thailand, Brazil) are growing 15–20%+ annually.
Globally, eCommerce represents 21.1% of total retail sales in 2026, up from 20.5% in 2025. In the US, eCommerce was 18.7% of retail over the first 11 months of 2025 (US Census Bureau) and is forecast to reach about 22% in 2026.
Approximately 2.77 billion people worldwide shopped online in 2025, representing roughly 33% of the global population. By 2028, eMarketer projects 50% of the global population aged 14 and over will be online shoppers.
China is the largest eCommerce market by sales volume, with approximately $3.2 trillion in annual eCommerce sales and over 50% of all retail purchases happening online. The US is the second-largest market at $1.47 trillion (2025) and is the largest market most international sellers can practically operate in.
The average eCommerce conversion rate sits around 1.8–2.5% globally, with significant variation by category. Beauty and health typically convert at 3%+ for top performers. Furniture and high-AOV categories convert below 1%. Mobile conversion rates lag desktop by around 1.4 percentage points on average.
Baymard Institute's September 2025 analysis of 50 published studies puts the average cart abandonment rate at 70.22%. The most recent single-study rate is 71.72%. Mobile abandonment is consistently higher than desktop, with mobile single-study rates often exceeding 85%.
Mobile commerce now accounts for 59% of global eCommerce sales (2025–26 data) and is forecast to reach 63% by 2028. In the US, mobile drove $577.6 billion in eCommerce sales in 2025, around 40% of total US eCommerce.
Four practical trends: AI-driven product discovery (especially through ChatGPT and similar agents), TikTok Shop scaling to a major channel for visual products under $50, BNPL gaining share in apparel and electronics, and structured data / AI-readability becoming a real discovery advantage. The "old" trends (mobile-first, omnichannel, free shipping expectations) are now baseline, not trends.
Yes, with caveats. The market is still growing, the buyer pool is expanding, and supplier infrastructure is more accessible than ever. The harder truth: it's more competitive than at any point in the last decade, organic acquisition is slower than the case studies suggest, and the path to profitability typically takes 6–18 months for a small seller. The sellers who succeed in 2026 do supplier vetting properly, ship from regional warehouses where possible, and focus on a specific category rather than building a general store.
For more practical guides on starting and growing an online store, see our Learn hub. To find vetted suppliers, browse the SaleHoo supplier directory. For product research data backed by 1.6 million tracked products, see SaleHoo Insights.
