美国电子商务的指数式增长

E-commerce business has witnessed exponential growth in the US during the past two decades. As per the data issued by Statista's Digital Market Outlook, an estimated 230 million Americans are likely to shop online this year, spending a total of $474 billion.But how big is e-commerce really in the grand scheme of things, asks a manufacturing.net report. The chart, based on data from the American Census Bureau indicates that the impact of online shopping on total retail sales in the US is still smaller than many people might possibly contemplate. In the Q4 of last year, e-commerce accounted for more than 10% of total retail sales for the first time ever, for the full year 2017 online sales accounted for around $9 of every $100 spent, noted the report.Minor RoleWhile that doesn’t seem like a lot considering the perceived importance of e-commerce, it needs to be noted that total retail sales include categories such as motor vehicle and parts dealers, gas stations and of course grocery stores where e-commerce plays a very minor role. Excluding such categories, the market research firm comScore puts the share of e-commerce in consumer spending at almost 20%, the report pointed out.

Mobile deviceIn the early years of Smartphones, industry grapevines weren’t expecting them to have a great effect on online shopping behavior. At the time, the screens were just too small and it seemed too inconvenient to go through a checkout process without a proper keyboard. Now, seven years after the launch of the first iPhone, we can safely say that Smartphones have become a viable shopping channel for many Americans, says a mbtmag.com report.Thanks to larger screens, mobile optimized online shops, dedicated Smartphone apps and easy check-out/payment options, and of course tablets, mobile devices now account for nearly 1 in 4 dollars spent online in the US. According to comScore figures, the degree to which online shoppers have gone mobile depends strongly on the product category. The mobile share of e-commerce spending ranges from 13% (computer hardware) to 58% in the toys and hobbies category. Across all categories, mobile devices accounted for 23% of e-commerce spending in Q3 2017, up from just 2% in Q3 2010.One in four e-commerce dollars is spent on a mobile device. Mobile share of US e-commerce spending in Q3 2017 by category is as follows: toys and hobbies 58%, video games, consoles and accessories 55%; music, movies and videos 51%; jewelry and watches 51%; computer software 41%; sports and fitness 40%; home and garden 33%; apparel and accessories 26%; books and magazines 22%; consumer packaged goods 22%; consumer electronics 14% and computer hardware 13% out of the total e-commerce sale of 23%, added the report.