Global e-commerce industry facing huge changes

In 2020, online retail sales totaled $4.28 trillion ($3.35 trillion in 2019). According to forecasts, in 2021 the global e-commerce industry will grow by another 14.3 percent, incl. due to changing purchasing habits and technology development, especially the increasing popularity of mobile solutions. Forecasts predict that in 2021 around 67 percent of online purchases in the world will be made using a smartphone.

In 13 markets analyzed by PayPal, 56 percent of respondents said they buy more online during the pandemic. In turn, 22 percent of respondents indicated that due to the pandemic, they shop abroad more freely, mainly due to better offers (48 percent) and access to products that are not available in their home countries (39 percent). In seven of the thirteen markets analyzed, PayPal is the preferred payment method for purchases abroad.

When planning foreign sales, it is worth remembering the differentiation of the analyzed markets in relation to the importance of individual purchasing events. In China, the 2020 Singles Day celebration lasted 11 days and resulted in sales of $115 billion. In Russia, 20 percent of consumers bought a gift to a loved one on the occasion of International Women's Day. El Buen Fin, the Mexican equivalent of Black Friday, ran for 12 days instead of the usual four days of a long holiday weekend, and the accompanying sales surpassed the 2019 result by 230 percent. In the USA, the main shopping holiday falls on the Christmas season, and Black Friday can be considered its contractual beginning.

(WBJ)