Online retail sales have seen consistent growth rates since the early 2000s when online shopping first became available to the public, and 2016 has been one of the best on record.
Total online retail sales for the 2016 year are estimated to hit the $1.915 trillion mark
The biggest growth in the e-commerce sector for 2016 came from China, who’s sales are expected to reach $899 billion which represents almost half of the total global e-commerce sales.
The second largest e-commerce sector is in North America which will reach around $420 billion by the end of 2016. North America is also expected to enjoy double digit growth into 2020 thanks to increased spending from digital buyers and expansion into new markets such as groceries.
South Africa is Africa’s largest e-commerce contributor, with sales expected to increase by 40% over the next ten years. Currently Africa currently only contributes roughly 2% to global e-commerce sales, but this number is also set to increase as mobile penetration continues to increase across the continent.
