A report from e-Commerce Europe, the European e-commerce umbrella group of which Retail Excellence Ireland is an affiliate.
With a total B2C e-commerce turnover of $452.4bn in 2013, North America is the third-strongest e-commerce region in the world, behind Asia-Pacific ($567.3bn) and Europe ($482.3bn). In comparison to 2012, the North American B2C e-commerce turnover grew by 10.1%, which is lower than the growth rates of Asia-Pacific (44.6%), Europe (17.1%), Latin America (21.5%) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA, 32.7%). As a result, North American B2C e-commerce market is becoming more and more mature, which leads to a dropping growth rate.
Figures in the Ecommerce Europe reports are based on the Global Online Measurement Standard for E-commerce (GOMSEC). The European e-commerce figures were established in cooperation with national e-commerce associations and GfK.
Online sales in North America expected to reach $494.0 billion in 2014
The North America region, comprising the United States, Canada and Mexico, made up 29.3% of the global B2C e-commerce market in 2013, which is a small decline compared to the preceding year (32.7%). This is partly due to the rise of the Asia-Pacific market, but North America also saw its growth rate drop in 2013. Whereas online sales grew by 11.2% in 2012, the growth rate only amounted to 10.0% in 2013. For 2014, it is forecast that this rate will continue to decrease to 9.1%. As a result, the North American B2C e-commerce turnover is expected to reach $494.0bn in 2014.
Growth slowing down in the United States
The most influential country of the North American region, the United Sates, is also home to the world’s largest B2C e-commerce market, with a turnover of $419.0 billion in 2013. This represents a share of 92.6% of the total North American B2C e-commerce market. The Canadian and Mexican online sales reached $23.9 billion (5.3%) and $9.5 billion (2.1%), respectively.
In terms of growth rate, Mexico leads the way. In 2013, Mexican B2C e-commerce increased by 41.4%, while the Canadian growth rate stood at 6.9%. Ranked third is the B2C e-commerce market of the United States, which grew by 6.2% in 2013. For 2014, Mexican online sales are expected to have grown by 31.1% to $12.5 billion. The Canadian growth rate dropped a little, to 6.6%, leading to a B2C e-commerce turnover of $25.5 billion. In the US, online sales are increasingly slowing down, with an estimated growth rate of 3.4% in 2014. With a total B2C e-commerce turnover of 456.0 billion, the US will be the world’s second-largest e-commerce market in 2014, behind China.
On average, North American e-shoppers spent $1,928 online in 2013
Ecommerce Europe’s research reveals that 235.7 million consumers in North America bought goods and services online in 2013. The average North American online consumer spent $1,928 online in 2013. This is significantly above the global average of $1,243. At $2,216, the US is clearly leading the way in the region, followed by Canada ($1,928) and Mexico ($312).
In terms of Internet penetration, the North American average of 69.5% is a little higher than the global average (64.0%). Within the region, Canada is in the lead with 87.7% of its population being connected to the Internet, followed by the US with 81.9% and Mexico with 38.8%.
In addition to the North American B2C E-commerce Report, the Ecommerce Foundation will publish four other regional reports in the upcoming period. These will cover Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and the major emerging countries Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). The reports are powered by GlobalCollect, Informatica, RichRelevance and Salesupply.