E-commerce: the global market from here to 2025

The growth rates recorded by the e-commerce market in recent years confirm an almost unstoppable trend. The global scenario in the period 2019-2025 according to statista.com.  Milena Bernardi

The digital transformation continues to advance, driven by innovation from numerous start-ups and the increasing monetary flow related to the rapid development of Asian economies. Further boosting online shopping has been largely contributed by the advent of the pandemic, which has pushed consumers to change their shopping habits.

Suffice it to say that in 2020, global online sales grew by as much as 495 billion dollars over the previous year.
These evidences are reported in the Statista Digital Market Outlook 2020 study, which focused on the global e-commerce scenario in the period 2019-2025, comparing the expected growth rates in the three main markets (United States, China and Europe) in the fashion, electronics and media, toys, hobbies and DIY, furniture and appliances, food & personal care sectors.

It clearly emerges how in 2019 China proved to be the most dynamic country with a turnover of 862.6 billion dollars, a trend that is destined to continue in the coming years: the online market is in fact estimated to grow at a CAGR of 12.5% until 2025 and will reach a turnover of 1,635.8 billion dollars. 

Leap forward also for the United States (360.1 billion dollars in 2019) that by 2025 should exceed 563 billion (CAGR of 5.5%), while Europe (third market) against a 2019 turnover of 351.9 billion, in 2025 will reach 565.9 billion, traveling at a compound annual growth rate of 6%.
As the pandemic continues, double-speed developments (CAGR of 10%) are expected for the five sectors surveyed to reach an estimated total revenue of 3,453.3 billion dollars by 2025.

Double speed for the Food & Personal Care segment
Although the Food & Personal Care segment was the least significant in terms of revenue in 2019 (291.5 billion dollars), it will be among the fastest growing, with a compound annual rate of 13.2% through 2025. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products took up the majority of 2019 revenues, while food and beverages weighed in at only one-third of revenue. Overall, the U.S., China and Europe are worth about 80% of the 2019 global market. The ranking is led by China with 147.1 billion dollars in revenue, followed by the U.S. at 38.1 billion dollars.

Projections to 2025 see Europe and the States growing at a CAGR of around 10%, thanks to developments in multichannel shopping by supermarkets, but it will still be China that will lead the way with a compound annual rate of 13.8%. Food & beverage will be the fastest growing category, with total market volume expected to grow from 155.5 billion dollars in 2019 to 375.1 billion dollars in 2025.
Despite the projected growth, however, it will remain the smallest e-commerce segment and the vast majority of everyday products will still be purchased at traditional stores.