Forget the hype. Reading the popular prints or listening to municipal lobbyists in Washington, you’d think Americans had abandoned brick-and-mortar stores.
But that’s not the story, $10 of $11 in retail spending will be in brick-and-mortar locations rather than online.
Despite more than $1 trillion dollars in online purchases worldwide in 2013, e-commerce accounted for just 5.1% share of total retail spending, according to eMarketer.
That share grew to an estimated 5.9% this past year on the back of a 22.2% increase in e- commerce spending, and will continue to grow through 2018, when it will reach 8.8%.
E-commerce’s share of total retail sales varies considerably by country though: by the end of the forecast period, e-commerce sales are expected o comprise 18% of retail sales in the US (the highest of any country), but just 1.4% retail share in India and Indonesia.
In the U.S., e-commerce’s share will be right about the global average, at 8.9%.