If you’re looking for a way to boost your sales and take your business to new heights, e-commerce should be firmly on your radar. We’ve rounded up some UK and global e-commerce statistics to illustrate the power of online sales.
The UK has one of the most advanced e-commerce markets in Europe. Here’s a round up of some key statistics for 2025:
But selling via e-commerce goes well beyond UK shores. By combining a strong online presence with the latest e-commerce platforms, you can open the doors of your business to the world and ‘remain open’ 24/7. Here’s a round-up of the latest global e-commerce statistics.
With the ease of international shipping and the simplicity of online orders, choosing a product from overseas is not a big concern for online shoppers. After all, globally more than half (52%) of online consumers order from both local and international websites, according to EMarketer.
However, with more than 70% of shoppers abandoning their cart globally in 2025 (Statista), understanding your customer will support the success of your business. Start with these key statistics from Statista:
Adding on costly fees beyond the purchase price that the buyer considers unreasonable is the most common reason for them to abandon the sale.
While you can ask online shoppers if they’d like to create an account on your website, you shouldn’t require them to do so. Many will simply leave your online store and look elsewhere for what they need. They’d prefer to checkout as a guest and don’t want to go through the time and hassle of creating a username and password.
When a customer orders a product online, they may not expect it that hour or that day. But many still want it as soon as possible. If it takes weeks or months for you to ship orders, they’ll likely leave their online shopping session on your website and turn to a competitor with faster shipping times.
E-commerce and slow shipping are not a good combination so it’s important to streamline your shipping processes and do whatever you can to expedite the time it takes for customers to receive their orders.
For many people, shopping online is a strong habit. As many as 34% of shoppers buy something online once a week (IPC).
Your company may be able to capitalise on this by using email marketing to send out weekly product updates and offerings to entice your customer base into a purchase.
Over 48 studies have looked at shopping cart abandonment rate statistics, and the average between them all is 69.99%.[5] This number has held relatively steady since about 2014.
To reduce this percentage, consider changing some of the factors identified above, such as enabling guest checkout, reducing shipping costs and providing faster turnaround times. You might also consider abandoned cart email campaigns to lure customers who are on the fence back in.
Global social e-commerce statistics show that social commerce reached $US821 in 2025, and is on pace to pass $US1 trillion by 2028.
If you thought the current social media commerce market was big, consider that it’s expected to jump up to $8.5 trillion in just six years.[2] There could be major opportunities here for businesses to cash in on their social media following. To take advantage of this growing audience, we recommend using a robust social media management tool.
Live commerce is a growing trend where users buy products from social media sites in real time. It’s a particularly popular option in Thailand, India and China, where over seven in 10 users engaged in live shopping.[2] If you’d like to move into the global market or expand your global reach, selling your products or services on social media is certainly worth exploring.
There is no shortage of social media platforms these days but not all of them are effective for selling your offerings online. About 51% of survey respondents stated that they use Facebook for online purchases so keep this in mind when determining which platforms to use.
Social media gives many people the feeling that they need to “keep up with the Joneses.” As a result, many of them make purchases they might not have considered if they didn’t use a platform such as Facebook or Instagram. The most influential products on social media include clothing or accessories, health or beauty items, food or drinks, event tickets and vacation experiences.[6]
Social media influencers are active social media users who have built a reputation for their expertise and knowledge on a certain topic. Almost half of social media commerce shoppers have been encouraged to make a purchase based on what they saw or heard from these influencers.
Believe it or not, 70% of teens trust influencers more than traditional celebrities, while 86% of women use social media for purchasing advice.[7]
Most people depend on their smartphone on a daily basis. Whether they have an Apple, Android or other device, many of them turn to it every time they want to make an online purchase.[8]
While it’s vital to create a seamless shopping experience on a desktop, it’s almost more important to ensure your website looks and works well on mobile devices.
Since 2018, the global mobile e-commerce market has been steadily growing. It was a mere 56% back then, but experts estimate it’ll reach 62% by 2027.[2]
To prepare, it’s important to make sure your online website and store follow the best mobile website design practices, including making pages easy to navigate with thumbs and utilising responsive web design.
In just two years, mobile commerce sales will nearly double to $856 billion.[2] To remain competitive in your industry, your business must start building mobile e-commerce into your overall digital marketing strategy.
Consider redesigning your website to be more responsive, creating a shopping app for users to browse your products or even offering special discounts or perks for mobile users.
Smartphones are widely used for online shopping, but what about tablets? Tablet e-commerce sales reached $61.08 billion in 2022. Surprisingly, this figure is expected to go down to $54.01 billion by 2026.[1]. This is likely because tablets are becoming less popular and e-commerce retailers have improved the mobile shopping experience.
Global e-commerce fraud will have cost merchants more than $US280 billion between 2023 and 2028. By 2028 it says the cost will rise to $US70 billion annually (Juniper Research)
E-commerce merchants reportedly spend 11% of their annual revenues on fraud management, including personnel, software and audits. The average e-commerce merchant uses five fraud detection tools (Cybersource)
This number is up from £75 the year before, and it’s expected to keep on increasing.[2] Unsurprisingly, the number of consumers who lost money after being targeted by an online shopping scam is also on the rise. It’s gone from 71% in 2015 to 75% in 2021. Businesses need to take proactive steps to protect both their own and their customers’ finances.
Mark HoosonStaff Writer
Laura HowardStaff Editor
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