Global E-Commerce Sales To Hit $4.2 Trillion As Online Surge Continues, Adobe Reports

Global e-commerce spending is expected to top $4 trillion this year.

E-commerce sales in this country and around the world surged in March, proving once again that the shift in online shopping triggered by the pandemic isn’t slowing down, according to the latest Adobe

ADBE
Digital Economy Index.

Adobe, for the first time, included global numbers in its report. It is predicting that global e-commerce sales will reach $4.2 trillion this year, with U.S. consumers accounting for close to one-quarter of that spending.

Stimulus checks and rising vaccination rates pushed U.S. e-commerce sales to record levels in March. Adobe estimates that Americans spent an extra $8 billion online, compared to normal projections for the period, between March 11, the day the American Rescue Plan stimulus law was signed, and March 31. The extra spending, according to Adobe, was almost like having a Black Friday level sales event in March. Black Friday 2020 generated $9 billion in online sales.

“The changes we’re seeing are things that are going to carry forward for generations,” said Jason Woosley, vice president, commerce and developer experience, at Adobe. “There’s just too much momentum and durability.”

Adobe surveys found that 9% of U.S. consumers, 8% of Japanese consumers, and 15% of United Kingdom consumers said they had never purchased anything online before March 2020. “This is a brand new audience for e-commerce,” Woosley said. “It’s likely these consumers are here to stay.”

U.S. consumers spent $78 billion online in March, up 49% year-over- year, the highest growth since July 2020.

For the first quarter of 2021, U.S. e-commerce sales grew 39% year-over-year, to $199 billion.

Adobe expects U.S. e-commerce spending this year to total between $850 billion and $930 billion, and to top $1 trillion in 2022.

Global e-commerce sales reached $876 billion in the first quarter, up 38% year-over-year.

Global e-commerce spending rose 38% during the first quarter of 2021.

In the United States, the promise that new stimulus checks were in the mail apparently led more consumers to use buy now, pay later options for their online purchases. Buy now, pay later purchases were up 166% year-over-year in March.

Toys, furniture and bedding, video games, and auto parts were the top purchases made by U.S. consumers in March, according to Adobe.

Grocery sales continued to see strong growth in the U.S. in March. Sales between March 7-21 were up 17% compared to a two-week period in August, 2020.

A growing percentage of shoppers worldwide say they prefer to shop online for groceries, according … [+] to a new Adobe survey.

Surveys of consumers in the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States showed online shopping is becoming the preferred method of grocery shopping for a growing number of consumers. Over half of the consumers in all three countries said they believe they are saving money by shopping for groceries online.

In the United States, 32% of consumers said they now feel more comfortable visiting stores in person than they did in 2020, while 23% said they feel less comfortable doing so.