The US has long been the global ecommerce super-power, with 75.8% of the population shopping online in 2013. Its value reached USD 263.3 billion and 16% of this was attributed to mobile commerce. Yet, growth in the US is slowing, with CAGR down to 13.5% from 16% in 2012. Whereas the US ecommerce market is losing momentum, the APAC region is making gains. In 2013, the sales from China outpaced those of the US for the first time.
• Total Population - 315 million • Age Breakdown - 40.2% of the population in the US are between 25 and 54. • Religion - 78% of the total American population are Christian. - 51% are Protestant and 23.9% are Catholic. - 16% of the population are unaffiliated to a religion. • Urban Population - 83% • Internet Penetration - 87% - 280 million • Mobile Penetration - 110% • Tablet Penetration - 34% - 10% increase since 2012. • Smartphone Penetration - 166 million smartphone users. - 68.8% penetration. • Online Shoppers - 191 million • Ecommerce Sales - USD 263.3 billion
Cross-border Ecommerce Opportunities • The US is the world leader in terms of cross-border ecommerce imports and exports. • Clothes and accessories, followed by health and beauty products, are popular cross-border purchases for shoppers in the US. This indicates that the global marketplace better meets their needs than their domestic market. • In the US there are 34.1 million online cross-border shoppers, spending USD 40.6 billion in 2013. • American online consumers mostly shop from the UK (49%), China (39%), Canada (34%), Hong Kong (20%) and Australia (18%).
Language as a Key Driver • The most common language in the US is known as American English. English is the de facto national language of the US, with 80% of the population claiming it as mother tongue. • English is the third largest language today, by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. • English is the most popular language online, with 26.8% share. • The countries with the highest populations of native English speakers are, in descending order: the US (292 million), Canada (18.2 million), Australia (15.5 million), Nigeria (4 million), Ireland (3.8 million), South Africa (3.7 million), and New Zealand (3.6 million).