In 2024, global retail e-commerce sales reached an estimated ************ U.S. dollars. Projections indicate a ** percent growth in this figure over the coming years, with expectations to come close to ************** dollars by 2028. World players Among the key players on the world stage, the American marketplace giant Amazon holds the title of the largest e-commerce player globally, with a gross merchandise value of nearly *********** U.S. dollars in 2024. Amazon was also the most valuable retail brand globally, followed by mostly American competitors such as Walmart and the Home Depot. Leading e-tailing regions E-commerce is a dormant channel globally, but nowhere has it been as successful as in Asia. In 2024, the e-commerce revenue in that continent alone was measured at nearly ************ U.S. dollars, outperforming the Americas and Europe. That year, the up-and-coming e-commerce markets also centered around Asia. The Philippines and India stood out as the swiftest-growing e-commerce markets based on online sales, anticipating a growth rate surpassing ** percent.

A league table of the 120 cryptocurrencies with the highest market cap reveals how diverse each crypto is and potentially how much risk is involved when investing in one. Bitcoin (BTC), for instance, had a so-called "high cap" - a market cap worth more than 10 billion U.S. dollars - indicating this crypto project has a certain track record or, at the very least, is considered a major player in the cryptocurrency space. This is different in Decentralize Finance (DeFi), where Bitcoin is only a relatively new player. A concentrated market The number of existing cryptocurrencies is several thousands, even if most have a limited significance. Indeed, Bitcoin and Ethereum account for nearly 75 percent of the entire crypto market capitalization. As crypto is relatively easy to create, the range of projects varies significantly - from improving payments to solving real-world issues, but also meme coins and more speculative investments. Crypto is not considered a payment method While often talked about as an investment vehicle, cryptocurrencies have not yet established a clear use case in day-to-day life. Central bankers found that usefulness of crypto in domestic payments or remittances to be negligible. A forecast for the world's main online payment methods took a similar stance: It predicts that cryptocurrency would only take up 0.2 percent of total transaction value by 2027.

Cart abandonment rates have been climbing steadily since 2014, after reaching an all-time high in 2013. In 2023, the share of online shopping carts that is being abandoned reached 70 percent for the first time since 2013. This is an increase of more than 10 percentage points compared to the start of the time period considered here. Mobiles vs. desktops When global consumers shop online, they spend considerably more when doing so on desktop computers. In December 2023, the average value of e-commerce purchases made through desktops was approximately 159 U.S. dollars. Purchases completed on mobiles and tablets were of comparable values, ranging between 100 and 105 U.S. dollars. Even though consumers spent more when conducting their shopping on computers, they were more inclined to add products to their shopping carts when using mobile devices. Ultimately, mobile devices provide a convenient and more accessible way to shop, but desktop computers remain the preferred choice for more expensive purchases. Where do consumers shop online? Across the globe, digital marketplaces are shoppers’ number-one online shopping destination. As of April 2024, some 29 percent of consumers voted marketplaces as their favorite e-commerce channel, followed by physical stores and retailer sites. Looking at which retailers’ global shoppers prefer to shop at, amazon.com emerged as the world's most popular online marketplace, based on share of visits. The U.S. portal accounted for around one-fifth of the global online marketplace's traffic in December 2023. Amazon's German and Japanese portal sites ranked third and fifth among the leading online marketplaces, further demonstrating Amazon's dominance over the market.

A March 2023 survey found that 61 percent of responding Canadian online shoppers preferred making online purchases from domestic businesses, as compared to just two percent who chose shop online from U.S. American e-tailers.