The United States generates by far the most online sales dollars each year (with $385 billion expected in 2013). However, China has the greatest number of online shoppers (with 271 million in 2013) — and online sales there are growing enormously.
Check out this table from eMarketer; and click on the chart to learn more.
These statistics do not surprise me at all. I do almost all of my shopping entirely online just for the sake of convenience and I think many other Americans would agree. The number of Chinese online shoppers is not surprising either because with a population so large and a booming economy many people would begin to shop online.
The statistics for the United States and China did not surprise me. I do a lot of my shopping online, and so do many of my friends and family. It did however surprise me that countries in Europe as well as Canada had such a drastic difference in how many people shopped online.
The fact that Americans generate the most sales dollars online is expected as the majority of Americans have had access to the internet for some time and prefer it over going to a store. China however has the greatest number of online shoppers simply because of the amount of citizens within the country. The discrepancy in the amount of shoppers and the amount of sales dollars generated online illustrates the idea that the citizens of China are still acclimating with the notion of making more of their purchases on the web than in a store.
I’m surprised to see that the Asia-Pacific area surpassed North America in e-commerce sales. The American culture is very oriented towards consumerism and these days the trend is to get everything done online. However, it is true that China alone has the largest population in the world. I really like the chart showing what the estimated future sales online will be in the next few years. It looks like this is only the beginning of the potential of e-commerce in the Asia-Pacific area.
It comes as no surprise to me how much Americans shop online. The process is pretty much tailor made for the American public. What I mean is the lazy rich Americans don’t even have to leave their households in order to shop.
Its no surprise when it comes to America, we are very lazy and self indulged. We have a tendancy to spend money faster than its earned. I presumed that China would be the country generating the most amount of revenue, because of its large economy and the population. I feel that culture plays a big role in a nation’s economy.
Unfortunately, these stats don’t surprise me. Online consumerism is literally becoming part of daily American life due to technology being the root of both convenience and laziness. Although China’s population is larger, the financial mindset and work ethic of its people have always seemed more savvy to me. I feel this somehow plays into the numbers from the last 2 years; they will obviously correspond in growth as the Chinese population increases.
I’m curious how sales tax legislation would change these numbers. One of the greatest advantages of shopping online has been avoiding sales tax. With these regulations becoming tighter, shopping online could then be almost disadvantageous due to the shipping wait and /or costs.
although i am not surprised that america has a very huge number of online shoppers, i am also surprised that with the amount of people in china and there rising economy that they have not past us in numbers for online sales dollars. I thought this post was a bit comical because being at school with no car, I do indulge in a lot of online shopping. The funny part is I order many things from a store in china.