The possibility of starting with one single product and building a multi-million dollar business is luring a lot of talented millennials into the business. The E-commerce sector is hot and people from all facets of life are joining it to experience the takeover of the retail sector.

While people are leaving their high-paying jobs and worthy-college programs to bootstrap an e-commerce marketplace, some businesses are rewriting the rules. Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba are some marketplaces that have mastered everything from the payment paradigm to logistics and it is tough to stand against them but not entirely impossible.

It is the possibility of starting from square one and creating something as big as Amazon that is inspiring so many people. Let’s traverse through a list of facts and trends that offers an insight into the future of the e-commerce industry.

Entrepreneurs and marketers must keep an eye on these facts and trends to decide what kind of product or marketing campaign will go viral.

Also Read: How Improving Product Discovery will Benefit E-commerce Players

Amazon is dominating the E-commerce Landscape

Started from a garage, Amazon today is the biggest e-commerce marketplace in the world. With the neck-breaking expansion in the Asia Pacific region, Amazon is aiming to become invincible.

1.  According to Statista, Amazon is the leading online retailer with $232.88 billion in revenue.

2. In a letter to employees, Jeff Bezos revealed: “Amazon has more than 100 million prime users and 95 million prime users alone in the United States”.

E-commerce will take over the Retail Sector in the Coming Future

A sneak peek into data that reveals how big e-commerce is becoming with every passing day. The challenge that e-commerce is posing in front of the retail sector is enormous and irreparable.

3. By 2021, 2.4 billion people will start using e-commerce.

4. In 2019, E-commerce accounted for 7% of all retail sales. E-commerce will account for 17.5% of retail sales by 2021.

5. 80% of American internet users have purchased at least one time online.

6. By 2040, almost 95% of products are expected to be sold via e-commerce.

7. According to a report by Big Commerce, the global e-commerce industry is growing at 23% annually.

Also Read: 5 Catalog Quality Checks to Improve E-commerce Conversions

Why People Prefer E-commerce over Retail Stores?

The following data offers us an insight that explains the unprecedented growth of the e-commerce industry

in the recent past.

8.  A KPMG study revealed, “54% of people shop online because it provides them with the freedom to shop anytime from anywhere”.

9.  “46% of shoppers buy items online to save time and escape from going out”

10. 65% of online shoppers study, compare, research, and discuss products before buying online.

11. A study by KPMG found, 60% of online shoppers compare prices online while being in a retail store.

12. 85% of customers discuss prices and products with their friends and families. All these 85% of customers trust their friend’s suggestions over marketing campaigns of businesses.

Related Article: Benefits of E-commerce Catalog Management 

Is Customer Experience Relevant to E-commerce Industry?

Well! Let’s look at the data and try to understand what lies in the future for customer experience when it comes to e-commerce:

13. 85% of customers agreed to never do business with a website after one bad experience,

Hub Spot study also revealed, “Wrong items and used products are the biggest reasons people ditch an e-commerce site”.

14. 80% of shoppers refuse to buy from a store after just one bad experience.

15. 69% of carts are abandoned due to the hectic login process & hidden costs.

What are the Challenges faced by E-commerce Industry?

The return rate is perhaps the biggest challenge faced by the e-commerce industry in contemporary times. Along with return rates, e-commerce players need to refigure their strategy to control cart abandonment.

16. 23% of US users abandon carts due to a complicated checkout process.

17. 17% of carts were abandoned because people couldn’t trust e-commerce websites with their credit card details.

18. 10% of carts were abandoned because people weren’t satisfied with the return policy.

19. Fashion and Apparel category constitutes 40% of all the products that are returned.

20. Almost 30% of all products ordered online are returned.

21. 23% of products are returned because they are fake.

22. 22% of products delivered looked different from the e-commerce catalog.

23. 21% of products are returned because they were damaged in transit.

Conclusion

While Amazon started in the early 90s and has grown to be the biggest name in the e-commerce domain but it has not achieved everything yet. Late penetration of the Internet in countries like India and China left the market open and new players are posing threat to Amazon for its reputation.