According to the Commerce Department, us e-commerce was worth $975bn in the past 12 months. Three years ago, the market capitalization of e-commerce was $518 billion. At that time, it would take 7 years to double the market capitalization. If the epidemic had not occurred, the market would have maintained an annual growth rate of 14-15% and reached $780 billion this year, nearly $200 billion less than today's $975 billion. Growth in the ecommerce market was 25 per cent higher than expected, as was overall retail growth.
In the first quarter, the e-commerce market grew just 6.7%. That was the slowest growth since 2009 (the months after the 2008 financial crisis). Of course, this number is the last point in the year-over-year historical growth of the e-commerce market, the first quarter of 2021. It is an indisputable fact that the growth rate of the e-commerce market tends to flatten.
In the first quarter of this year, 14%of consumer purchases were made on e-commerce platforms, excluding categories that compete less with e-commerce -- food and beverage spending, fuel supplies, and purchases of special chattels like cars and boats. E-commerce sales account for about 21% of total retail sales, meaning that for every $5 spent by consumers, more than $1 is spent through e-commerce platforms.
Bricks-and-mortar retail will grow faster than e-commerce for the first time in history in 2021, as the force driving the shift in consumer habits cools amid the pandemic.
For the past four quarters, brick-and-mortar retail has outpaced e-commerce, keeping e-commerce's share of total retail spending roughly flat, and while e-commerce penetration is declining, net spending through e-commerce channels is still higher than predicted pre-pandemic trends.
China Fulfillment
2022.05.22
