Direct Response Marketing

Global E-commerce Breaks $1 Trillion Mark

13 Feb, 2013 By: Doug McPherson

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NEW YORK – Global E-commerce sales broke the $1 trillion mark in 2012, rising 21.9 percent from just less than $900 billion in 2011, reports digital marketing research firm eMarketer.

North America claimed most of those sales, but eMarketer predicts the Asia-Pacific region will take the lead in 2013. The firm says in 2013, total E-commerce sales worldwide will grow 19.3 percent year over year to reach nearly $1.3 trillion.

eMarketer’s definition of E-commerce sales includes retail, travel and digital download sales and online marketplace transactions.

eMarketer says China drives most of the Asia-Pacific’s E-commerce growth, and it will pass Japan to become the world’s second-largest E-commerce market after the United States this year. China had nearly 220 million online shoppers in 2012 – a number expected to double by 2016 – greater than the number of online shoppers in any other country.

In 2013, E-commerce sales in China will account for 14 percent of online sales worldwide, at $181.6 billion, up 65 percent from $110 billion in 2012, eMarketer says. The United States in 2013 will account for 29.6 percent of all online sales, or $384.8 billion, up 12.2 percent from $343.4 billion in 2012.

However, the average Chinese shopper will spend only $670 online this year. In contrast, United Kingdom shoppers will spend an average of $3,878 each this year, up from $3,585 per shopper in 2012, when it took the global lead for highest average E-commerce spending per shopper. eMarketer says a strong demand for food and apparel items among U.K. online shoppers and U.K. retailers’ widespread promotion of online and mobile channels account  for the differences.
 

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