Ecommerce forecast to rise to 24 percent of card spending

According to Global Payment Cards Data and Forecasts to 2023, ecommerce expenditure amounted to USD 4.5 trillion in 2017, up 13% since 2016. The drivers of this growth are increased convenience when compared to buying from bricks and mortar outlets and, in some cases, lower prices.

Other key findings of the report:

• in the UK, retailer campaigns such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, have caused a migration away from the high street;

• in Ukraine, which accounts for 10% of central and eastern Europe’s ecommerce expenditure, customers are using online shopping as a way of reducing costs in a challenging economic environment;

• in Canada, the convenience of being able to order goods online rather than visit a physical merchant is particularly important, especially because a large number of people live in rural areas;

• the arrival of companies like Uber in several markets has also boosted ecommerce, as have streaming services such as iTunes and Netflix.