The numbers behind the eCommerce economy
We publish independent growth statistics, merchant cost benchmarks and technology adoption data — so operators, investors and vendors can plan with real figures instead of anecdotes.
- Global online retail sales
- $6.9T
- Online share of retail
- 21.2%
- Total retail market
- $32.4T
- Online sales by 2030
- $9.6T
+8.4% YoY
2025 projection
+0.5 pts
vs. 3.6% in 2010
+5.9% YoY
2025 projection
25.2% of retail
our forecast
eCommerce and retail growth
Global online retail sales versus total retail sales, with online penetration tracked year over year. Updated quarterly.
Sales volume (USD trillions)
2010 – 2030FOnline share of retail (%)
Global retail & ecommerce GMV, USD trillions. 2025+ are projections.
| Year | Total retail | Ecommerce | Ecom share | Ecommerce GMV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | $16.0T | $0.57T | 3.6% | |
| 2011 | $17.0T | $0.68T | 4.0% | |
| 2012 | $18.0T | $0.84T | 4.7% | |
| 2013 | $19.0T | $1.00T | 5.3% | |
| 2014 | $20.0T | $1.33T | 6.7% | |
| 2015 | $21.0T | $1.55T | 7.4% | |
| 2016 | $22.0T | $1.85T | 8.4% | |
| 2017 | $23.0T | $2.38T | 10.3% | |
| 2018 | $24.0T | $2.98T | 12.4% | |
| 2019 | $25.0T | $3.35T | 13.4% | |
| 2020 | $26.4T | $4.25T | 16.1% | |
| 2021 | $28.2T | $4.98T | 17.7% | |
| 2022 | $29.0T | $5.29T | 18.2% | |
| 2023 | $29.9T | $5.80T | 19.4% | |
| 2024 | $30.6T | $6.33T | 20.7% | |
| 2025proj | $32.4T | $6.86T | 21.2% | |
| 2026proj | $34.0T | $7.46T | 21.9% | |
| 2027proj | $35.5T | $8.03T | 22.6% | |
| 2028proj | $36.7T | $8.60T | 23.4% | |
| 2029proj | $37.3T | $9.20T | 24.7% | |
| 2030proj | $37.9T | $9.59T | 25.2% |
Where a typical merchant's revenue goes
Every dollar of revenue for a mid-market online store, split across the cost lines that decide whether the business compounds or stalls.
Share of revenue by group (%)
Full line-item breakdown
Percent of gross revenue, typical mid-market merchant.
| Category | Group | % of revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Core Product Cost | COGS | 25.00% |
| Freight & Transportation | COGS · Supply Cost | 2.50% |
| Customs, Duties, Tariffs | COGS · Supply Cost | 1.50% |
| Packaging (custom/branded) | COGS · Supply Cost | 1.00% |
| Cargo/Inventory Insurance | COGS · Supply Cost | 0.50% |
| Supply Chain R&D (sourcing/testing) | COGS · Supply Cost | 2.00% |
| COGS subtotal | 32.50% | |
| Management & Operations | Team | 7.00% |
| Virtual Assistants | Team | 2.00% |
| Marketing (team) | Team | 2.50% |
| Customer Support | Team | 3.50% |
| Team subtotal | 15.00% | |
| Paid Ads (Meta, Google) | Marketing | 13.50% |
| Influencer/Affiliate | Marketing | 3.50% |
| Creative & Content Prod. | Marketing | 3.00% |
| Marketing subtotal | 20.00% | |
| Warehousing | Fulfillment | 3.00% |
| Pick & Pack Fees | Fulfillment | 3.00% |
| Shipping to Customer | Fulfillment | 5.50% |
| Fulfillment subtotal | 11.50% | |
| CRM & Helpdesk | Operations Providers | 1.00% |
| Platform, Channels | Operations Providers | 1.50% |
| Email/SMS (Klaviyo, etc.) | Operations Providers | 1.10% |
| Analytics/Other SaaS | Operations Providers | 0.90% |
| Stripe / Shopify / PayPal Fees | Operations Providers | 2.50% |
| Returned Orders | Operations Providers | 2.00% |
| Bookkeeping / CPA | Operations Providers | 1.00% |
| Legal, Insurance, Office Tools | Operations Providers | 1.00% |
| Operations Providers subtotal | 11.00% | |
| Profit | Profit | 10.00% |
| Profit subtotal | 10.00% | |
| Total | 100.00% |
The commerce.report dashboard
Everything we publish, plus the layer we don't: company-level leads, technology breakdowns and cohort filters — queryable and exportable.
Industry statistics
Growth, penetration and category trends by market, refreshed quarterly with full methodology.
Individual leads
Store-level records with revenue bands, traffic estimates, contacts and hiring signals.
Technology breakdowns
Detected platform, payments, apps and infrastructure per store — filter and export any segment.
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