Worldwide Retail and Ecommerce Sales: eMarketer's Updated Forecast and New Mcommerce Estimates for 2016—2021

Executive Summary

In 2017, retail ecommerce sales worldwide reached $2.304 trillion, a 24.8% increase over the previous year, eMarketer estimates. Mobile was a key factor, as mcommerce accounted for 58.9% of digital sales.

• Total retail sales last year reached $22.640 trillion, up 5.8% over 2016. An improving export business, higher employment and wages, as well as rising ecommerce and cross-border sales across Asia-Pacific, North America and Western Europe were all factors in driving retail spending.
• Ecommerce made up 10.2% of total retail sales worldwide in 2017, up from 8.6% a year prior. This growth in share was largely influenced by Asia-Pacific, where 14.6% of overall retail spend went toward ecommerce. In the digitally maturing markets of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as parts of Southeast Asia, ecommerce accounted for less than 5% of retail sales. The same was true for regions where economic factors have slowed ecommerce sales growth, such as Latin America and the Middle East and Africa.
• Global mcommerce sales rose 40.3% last year to $1.357 trillion, representing 6.0% of total retail expenditures. Markets with significant mobile spending include China, Japan, South Korea, the UK and the US. Growth has been helped along by consumers feeling more comfortable making purchases on their smartphones and, in some regions, a greater selection of low-cost items like apparel, which encourages impulse buying.
• China alone made up 67.1% of mcommerce sales worldwide in 2017, driven by its mobile-first internet audience. Sales are expected to nearly triple from $909.93 billion to $2.595 trillion between 2017 and 2021.