By the end of 2022, global retail sales of goods and services are projected to be about $26.7 trillion, compared to about $23.6 trillion in 2018. And this market is constantly growing. Although physical in-store retail is the dominant channel in this market, online forms of retail are also becoming increasingly popular.
In 2020, global e-commerce, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, rose to $26.7 trillion, accounting for 19% of all retail sales. Online retail or e-commerce channels account for a significant share of the retail sector in global markets. Most retailers use the omnichannel model, which aims to seamlessly integrate offline and online channels.
In addition, the buyer has become more demanding. In particular, a survey conducted in early 2021 showed that faster delivery was the main aspect through which buyers from around the world switched to online shopping (11.2% of respondents).
In second place – free return, which refers to 8.1% of consumers surveyed, followed by reliable reviews and ratings – 7.3%. However, judging by the dynamics of global retail sales, online sales will grow and may surpass offline sales in the future.
Retail trade is growing
According to Statista, now the world ranking in the field of retail looks like this:
- The US $ 5.6 trillion;
- Europe – 3.91 trillion US dollars;
- China – 2.06 trillion US dollars;
- India – 1.2 trillion US dollars;
- Mexico – 0.35 trillion US dollars.
In the United States, retail sales have been growing steadily since 2009 as the economy recovered from a recession following the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Another reason for this is the fact that the United States is home to many of the world’s leading retailers, including Walmart, Costco and Amazon. Most of these companies sell domestically, so they are also the dominant players in the US retail industry.
In particular, Amazon is seeing extreme levels of revenue growth in tandem with the growth of e-commerce worldwide.
China is a large and fast-growing retail market with a high level of digitalization. The pandemic has made e-commerce a strategic priority for every retailer.
It is no coincidence that The Economist published the headline “Why retailers in the world should focus on China” on the cover of the first issue of 2021. In China, online sales have grown by 25% annually for the past seven years.
In 2021, India’s retail market reached $ 1.2 trillion, up from $ 950 billion three years earlier. It is expected that by 2026 this figure will exceed 1.7 trillion, which is an increase of more than 80% compared to 2018. In 2018, retail sales in Europe amounted to about 3.25 trillion euros (3.91 trillion US dollars). By 2023, this figure is projected to reach approximately 3.55 trillion euros.
The most expensive retail brand in the world
As of 2021, Amazon was the most expensive retail brand in the world with an estimated brand value of about $ 254 billion. Second place went to Taobao, a brand of online shopping website owned by Alibaba, with a brand value of $ 53.3 billion. Amazon is an international e-commerce company that offers online retail, computer services, consumer electronics, digital content, and other services such as daily deals and products. With a net income of more than $ 385 billion, Amazon is established as the leading e-commerce retailer in the United States.
There are two key trends in the world – the growth of retail trade (respectively, more consumption + 6.6%) and the growth of the share of online sales.