Since the start of the pandemic, the global e-commerce market has seen unprecedented growth. The so-called “pandemic effect” generated large spikes in online buyers, especially from first-time or ‘novice’ consumers, and accelerated the arrival of new e-commerce business models, such as online grocery shopping and last-minute order delivery.
In a context in which inflation hits record highs (price of gasoline, electricity, basic food) and the recession is the order of the day, Semrush, a SaaS platform for managing online visibility and content marketing, has analyzed what are the current trends in e-commerce in its latest report: “The state of e-commerce: Report on the main e-commerce trends in 2022”, with the aim of helping e-commerce businesses to design an intelligent digital marketing strategy based on market knowledge and the current consumer.
Online traffic to e-commerce: mobile dominates the sector
Online traffic to e-commerce businesses has increased by 73% compared to 2019. In fact, a historic peak in customer traffic was reached in December 2021, due to the Christmas shopping period. However, so far this year, traffic has only increased by 9%, and although the most important times in terms of business for retailers are still to come, growth is expected to be more modest due to global economic problems. .
As of 2022, mobile traffic absolutely dominates the eCommerce industry, with over 70% of online shoppers browsing eCommerce sites from their phones. This comeback of mobile began in early 2021, when we saw unprecedented growth in mobile usage compared to desktop.
Top 10 countries with the most traffic to e-commerce
The e-commerce boom has taken over the entire world. But, as expected, they are the countries with the highest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) the ones that bring the most traffic to e-commerce sites. The United States, Germany and the United Kingdom head the list of countries that contribute the largest shares of online shoppers, placing Spain in ninth place, and therefore entering the top 10. The rest of the list also makes sense, as they are almost perfectly in sync with the top 10 countries by GDP.
amazon It attracts the majority of European online shoppers, but in this case it must be taken into account that the analysis speaks of the German Amazon. Even so, the English, Italian and Spanish versions of the market are also in the top 10.
The following positions, however, are held by Asian and European brands: aliexpress, based in China, and Poland’s Allegro, based in Poland. Apart from two other European e-tailers – Dutch Bol and French Le Bon Coin – the list is dominated by international companies: Amazon, Aliexpress and eBay.
The most sought after products in Europe
Apart from Shein -an e-commerce brand exclusively for clothing- high-tech products are the main attraction that attracts users to buy online, despite regional differences such as rapid tests for the detection of Covid-19 or women’s lingerie products.
Fernando AngleSenior Market Research Manager at Semrush, highlights the following conclusions about the report: “The first is that the market is still growing, but the pace has gradually cooled. For e-commerce, this may mean that relying on market expansion as a growth driver is no longer a viable strategy, and therefore they must refocus their marketing strategy to gain more market share.”.
“The second is that all e-merchants should focus their efforts on adapting and facilitating the customer’s mobile shopping experience so that it is as satisfactory as possible, since that is where potential customers and future sales will come from. . As we all operate in the mobile-first era, mobile experiences remain a top priority.”
“And finally, the Anglo-Saxon world dominates the e-commerce landscape. However, when thinking about increasing market share, it is feasible to consider other markets such as France, Germany and Japan and translate web pages into local languages (or, like Amazon, have a site for non-speaking visitors). English)”.
