Global ecommerce expected to surpass USD 4 tln in 2021, Adobe reports

In the US, ecommerce broke records beginning with 11 March 2021. An extra USD 8 billion was spent in the 3-week period from 11 March to 31 Mar (for comparison, Black Friday 2020 drove USD 9 billion in ecommerce). Even as stores reopened and consumers felt more comfortable visiting them, online shopping has shown no signs of slowing down. 

While consumers are spending more of their money, many are also exploring new ways to make payments. BNPL options grew 166% YoY in March 2021, after growing 215% YoY in the first two months of the new year. On a state-by-state basis, Florida, Washington, Colorado, Michigan, and West Virginia saw the highest growth with this payment method. 

According to Adobe, ecommerce worldwide reached USD 876 billion in the first three months of 2021, up significantly at 38% YoY growth. At current growth rates, Adobe forecasts that global ecommerce will hit USD 4.2 trillion for 2021. In the US, Adobe expects ecommerce to hit USD 1 trillion in 2022. 

Adobe is also releasing data specifically on markets in the UK and Japan. In the UK, ecommerce growth outpaced the US, growing significantly at 66% YoY in the first three months of 2021 – reaching USD 39 billion in spend. The US grew 39% on a larger base, hitting USD 199 billion in the same time period. Half of the revenue came from smartphones in the UK, with mobile share of spend growing 6% YoY. In Japan, ecommerce grew at a more modest pace. Online sales increased 15% YoY in the first three months of 2021, reaching USD 38 billion. 64% of revenue came via smartphones, which is up 2% YoY. While more Japanese consumers went online (visits up 19% YoY) and placed larger orders (up 15% YoY), it was in part offset by lower conversion (down 16% YoY). 

The Adobe Digital Economy Index is based on analysis through Adobe Analytics that covers over one trillion visits to US retail sites and over 100 million SKUs in 18 product categories. For travel insights, Adobe Analytics measure transactions from 7 of the top 10 US airlines and 8 of the top 10 US hotels. Global views are based on transactions in over 80 countries across Americas, APAC, and EMEA. Companion survey findings are based on responses from over 3K consumers across the US, the UK, and Japan (18 years or older) fielded between 26 February – 2 March 2021 and 24 March – 29 March 2021.