The world of ecommerce is changing rapidly

More people than ever before shop online — and they’re shopping more often, across more digital channels and marketplaces, and with higher customer expectations that demand to be met.

Ecommerce businesses have had to rapidly evolve in response to greater audience expectations and evolving buying behaviors from around the time of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 — where e-commerce retail experienced massive growth after consumers of all ages embraced the habit of shopping online.  

Below, we’ve collected some key stats that provide a snapshot of how the e-commerce landscape looks today, with a special focus on aspects like personalization and AI.

E-commerce trends and market growth

• Global e-commerce sales reached $6.9 trillion in 2024 — up from $3.3 trillion in 2019. (Statista)
• Online sales accounted for 22% of global retail sales in 2024, and it is projected to reach 24% by 2026. (Statista)
• In the US, social commerce earnings from retail are predicted to reach nearly $80 billion in 2025. (Emarketer)
• 76% of US adults shop online, with 2.7 billion global digital buyers in 2024. (Statista)
• Mobile devices account for over 43% of US online retail sales, with mobile commerce expected to reach 50% by 2027. (Statista)
• Worldwide, mobile devices accounted for 70% of global e-commerce sales in 2024. (Statista)
• Brand differentiation is the most important driver of long-term retail sales success, accounting for 57% of future growth. (Google)
• Click and collect sales are predicted to exceed $154.3 billion in 2025. (Shopify)

Customer experience and buyer behavior

• 88% of US shoppers had at least one poor online customer experience in the past year. (MarketWatch)
• 80% of organizations now expect to compete mainly on customer experience. (Gartner)
• Cart abandonment rate averages around 70%, and the top causes for cart abandonment include high shipping costs (55%), forced account creation (34%), and slow checkout (26%). (Baymard Institute)
• Purchase confidence is 3.2 x higher among consumers who feel they found relevant information about a product. (Google)
• 75% of shoppers will cross-check multiple sources to see if the information they find is true. (Google)
• 55% of consumers rank search engines as their top pre-purchase information source. Amazon was in second place, at 35%. (Pwc)
• For 1 in 3 consumers, a lack of product knowledge is a key barrier to making a purchase. (Google)

The role of rich media

• 87% of marketers say videos help drive sales because they help drive customer purchasing decisions. (Vidico)
• 91% of consumers have watched a product explainer video to learn more about a product. (Vidico)
• 50% of consumers prefer demo videos that have been created by an influencer, rather than the brand the product is from. (Vidico)
• 91% of customers say that they want to 360° product views on the product pages they’re browsing. (BusinessDasher)
• Customer satisfaction can increase by up to 50% when a brand uses a 360° product photo. (BusinessDasher)
• Add-to-cart rates can increase by 22% when brands use 360° images on their product pages. (BusinessDasher)
• 360° photography can boost customer engagement by 32%. (BusinessDasher)

Personalization and the use of AI

• 71% of consumers expect businesses to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% are frustrated when it’s absent. (McKinsey)
• Businesses that execute personalization well can boost their revenue by 40%+. (McKinsey)
• 70% of consumers see a clear gap forming between those businesses that use AI well and those that don’t. (Zendesk)
• 43% of consumers are comfortable with using AI chatbots. (Merkle)
  27% of shoppers use a chatbot daily. (Tidio)
• 36% of consumers say that chatbot recommendations influence their buying decisions. (Tidio)
• 75% of consumers said they want brands to demonstrate that they understand their needs. (Google)
• 61% of consumers say that they expect their buying experience to be more personalized when a brand is using AI. (Zendesk)
• 65% of shoppers that expect some level of personalization would like brands to offer them with targeted promotions. (McKinsey)
• 82% of consumers would find it helpful if AI allowed them to search for things that they find ‘difficult to describe’. (Google)
• 81% of consumers would find it helpful if they could find a product by taking a photo of it. (Google)

Customer loyalty

• 46% of shoppers would be more likely to continue shopping with a brand if they receive a personalized website experience. (Merkle)
• 59% of consumers globally say they are likely to feel a strong connection with the companies they are most loyal to. (KPMG)
• Consumers who are highly confident at the point of purchase are 18 times more likely to recommend the brand to family or friends than those with low confidence. (Google)
• 55% of consumers say that they are loyal to a certain brand because it ‘offers them an easy shopping experience’. (KPMG)
• 74% of consumers say that ‘product quality’ inspires their loyalty. (KPMG)
• Almost 70% of consumers say an in-app loyalty program would make them spend more. Another 84% say it would increase their loyalty to the online retailer. (Emarketer)
• 29% of consumers say they would consider buying directly from a brand (D2C), instead of through a marketplace or ecommerce aggregator. (Pwc)

Customer returns

• In the US, bracketing behavior (shoppers buying more than one size or colour in the same order) accounts for high apparel return rates of up to 40%. (Financial Times)
• Return costs can reach $21–$46 per item, and over 60% of retailers now charge their customers return fees. (WSJ)
• Of the consumers aware of stricter returns policies, 69% state that tighter returns policies deter them from making purchases, which is up significantly from 59% in 2023. (Blue Yonder)

• 42% of customer returns occur because items didn’t match product descriptions. (Oberlo)
• 360° images can increase conversions by 47% and reduce returns by up to 50%. (BusinessDasher)
• 45% of consumers say they would be less likely to return a product if more accurate sizing information was provided to them on the product page. (Pwc)
• In the consumer electronics sector, 59% of shoppers cite ‘poor product content’ as their reason for needing to return a purchase. (1WorldSync)
• In the same sector, 37% of shoppers say they returned their purchase because the product photography was insufficiently showing all parts of the product. (1WorldSync)
• 80% of e-commerce businesses plan to increase their customer service budgets over the next year. (Zendesk)

Sustainability

• 42% of consumers regularly buy sustainable products; 68% want greener practices from retailers. (Pwc)
• In the US, returned customer items created 27 million metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2021. (Statista)
• US ‘re-commerce’ (the global second-hand apparel market) is expected to reach $74 billion by 2029, growing by 9%, year-on-year. (ThredUp)
• 8 out of 10 consumers say that they would pay up to 5% more for a product that was made sustainably. (Pwc)
• 55% of shoppers say that they are ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ concerned about the environmental impact of returning items. (Blue Yonder)

These statistics reiterate the importance of providing accurate, detailed information to your customers, but they also demonstrate how strategies like harnessing AI, personalizing customer experiences, and using rich media such as 360° images and demo videos can boost conversion rates, omnichannel convenience, and brand loyalty.

Discover how Inriver’s adaptable, enterprise-ready Product Information Management (PIM) software can help your ecommerce brand with all the above aspects and supercharge your sales.