These Online Shopping Facts Will Blow Your Mind!

We all know that online shopping is a big deal. The global e-commerce world is indeed overflowing right now in a very good way. In fact, one of the largest segments of growth within the logistics industry is services related to online shopping platforms and the storefronts that they serve. Sales are up, more shoppers are steering away from traditional retail, and online stores are thriving. 

So, we thought it might be fun to take a look at a few statistics about online shopping that might shock you. 

Today, we’ll break down 9 of the coolest facts about e-commerce that will convince you to ramp up your own online shopping programs.

Here Are 9 Facts About Online Shopping That Will Blow Your Mind

E-commerce Will Make More Than $3 Trillion in Sales in 2019!

According to published reports by eMarketer, online sales of goods and services is expected to eclipse $3 Trillion in 2019. This mind-numbing statistic represents a growth of more than $500 billion from sales in 2018 to nearly $2.5 trillion in gross revenue. What’s really crazy is that sales are expected to approach $5 trillion by 2021.

The Impact of Cyber Monday

Those in the retail world are quite familiar with Black Friday.

If you are unfamiliar with Black Friday, it is basically a shopping holiday that always comes the day after Thanksgiving in the US. During this popular shopping holiday, nearly all retail operations offer amazing sales and generate the majority of their annual sales.

However, in recent years, the online shopping community has introduced Cyber Monday. Yep, that's right, just like their retail counterparts, it is during this holiday that online stores offer various discounts and sales. This online shopping holiday occurs the Monday following Black Friday and began about five years ago.

What you might not know is that Cyber Monday sales increased 6% in 2018 and generated over $7.9 billion in sales (on one day). 

The Power of Free Shipping

There are several ways of impressing and attracting online shoppers. Whether it’s offering promotional discount codes, creating BOGO (Buy One Get One) sales, or simply slashing the prices and depending on volume sales, online retailers are becoming savvier these days.

However, according to a recently performed census, more than 55% of those who shop online said they are more likely to make an online purchase if free shipping is offered. Many of them going on to state that they would rather pay a little extra for their items so long as free shipping is available.

Internet Security? What's that?

We all know that online shopping is popular, but did you know that roughly 8 out of 10 (or 79% of American residents) are currently online shoppers? That is an astronomical number and has been dwarfing retail sales for quite some time now.

In 2002, however, less than 20% of Americans trusted the internet to make purchases. Since that time, many recent improvements have been made. Advanced cybersecurity protocol, including advancements in SSL certificates for online platforms, have restored and improved consumer confidence.

Social Media Holds Much Power Over Online Shopping

Anyone who operates a successful business understands the power of social media. For instance, many of us use Facebook to keep up with friends or the latest gossip. Businesses, on the other hand, use it very differently. This is especially true when talking about online storefronts. 

In a nutshell, they are using these platforms as cash cows that just keep churning out the money!

In fact, 77 percent of US-based small businesses use Facebook and Instagram as their leading sales and marketing platforms. 

Online Shoppers are in a Hurry

It’s a well-known fact that many consumers have embraced a Veruca Salt mentality – they want it NOW. That includes their online shopping habits.

According to Forbes, if an online platform takes more than 3 seconds to load during that initial visit, 40% of shoppers will log-off and choose a competitor. As such, investing in robust, adaptive online platforms and hosting services that ensure lightning load time is becoming more critical than ever for online merchants. 

The Abandoned Online Shopping Cart

A constant struggle that all online retailers deal with is shopping cart abandonment. This is when a potential customer adds a product to their online shopping cart only to abandon it and never make the purchase.

While many consumers use the shopping cart as their online wishlist, many simply just never return. In fact, a 2017 study by the Baymard Institute indicated that nearly 70% of online shoppers place items in the cart but never make the commitment to buy.

Opportunity for Local Business Growth

While it looks like everybody is taking advantage of the online marketplace, this isn't really the case.

You might be surprised to learn that nearly 60 percent of all small businesses do not have a website. What’s really shocking is that 50% of consumers looking for local services do so by searching online by location. 

For example, if a person lives in Phoenix, Arizona and is looking for an AC repair company, they will type in AZ REPAIR IN PHOENIX in Google search. Companies who invest in local or GEO SEO are finding that to be the best ROI for their marketing dollar. 

Many leading e-commerce merchants are finding it more difficult to control costs on shipping, receiving, or warehousing their products. This stimulates them to search for 3PLs who offer warehousing, inventory control, packaging, and shipping services – like Redwood Logistics. 

If you’re thinking about upgrading your online distribution platform to accommodate increased growth, without investing in serious overhead expenses, contact Redwood Logistics today!