50+ Online Shopping Statistics 2027: How We Buy Now

The online store is no longer the center of online shopping. A shopper can discover a product on TikTok, compare it on a marketplace, ask AI to shortlist alternatives, scrutinize reviews, and abandon the purchase over delivery, all before a retailer gets a second chance to win them back. The online shopping statistics for 2027 tell the story of a customer journey that has escaped the storefront.

That changes the job for e-commerce and marketing teams. Winning the click is only one moment in a journey shaped by mobile, social commerce, marketplaces, trust, checkout, fulfillment, returns, and increasingly AI. The opportunity is bigger, but so is the number of places where purchase intent can strengthen or disappear.

The technology behind that journey is expanding with it. G2 tracks 773 products in its e-commerce Platforms category alone. When paired with current government and consumer research, the data below reveal where online shopping stands now, what is reshaping the path to purchase, and what teams should prepare for next.

These online shopping statistics capture the shifts that matter most in 2026, from market scale and purchase friction to social commerce, fulfillment, reviews, and the next generation of shopping.

Online shopping statistics in 2027: At a glance

Here is a snapshot of online shopping in 2027, covering market scale, the businesses behind e-commerce technology, buyer trust, platform competition, and the direction of digital commerce.

How big is online shopping in 2027?

Global e-commerce revenue is forecast to reach $5.31 trillion in 2026, up from $4.89 trillion in 2025, according to ECDB. That's an estimated 8.6% year-over-year increase, although the figures represent nominal revenue forecasts rather than inflation-adjusted growth. (ECDB)

Official U.S. retail data provides another view of online shopping's scale:

• U.S. retail e-commerce sales reached $340.2 billion in Q2 2026, on a seasonally adjusted basis. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Retail e-commerce accounted for 17.1% of total U.S. retail sales during the quarter. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Retail e-commerce sales grew 12.2% year over year, compared with 6.7% growth for total retail sales over the same period. (U.S. Census Bureau)
  
  The two datasets aren't competing estimates. ECDB models global e-commerce revenue, while Census specifically measures U.S. retail e-commerce. Together, they show scale from different perspectives without treating broader e-commerce and retail e-commerce as interchangeable.
  
  What G2 Data shows: The software landscape supporting digital commerce has changed, too. G2's Mid-Market E-Commerce Platforms Grid® had 6 products in the Leaders quadrant in Fall 2019 compared with 11 in Fall 2026. This reflects a broader field of products qualifying as Mid-Market Leaders on G2, not a measure of e-commerce adoption or consumer demand.

How many people shop online, and how often do they buy?

Online shopping now reaches billions of people. ECDB estimates that there will be 2.673 billion e-commerce buyers worldwide in 2025, up from 2.452 billion in 2023. That is roughly one in three people globally, although ECDB's figure is a modeled estimate rather than an official worldwide census of online shoppers.

The global number only tells part of the story. Online shopping participation differs substantially across major markets.

How many people shop online in the U.S.?

Online shopping is firmly mainstream in the United States. Roughly 87% of U.S. consumers shop online, according to Statista's updated 2026 overview of U.S. online-shopping behavior.

The U.S. is also highly penetrated across generations. Millennials recorded the highest online shopping participation in Q4 2025, at 95%, underscoring how close online buying is to being universal in some age groups.

How many people shop online in China?

China has one of the world's largest online shopping populations. The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) reported 974 million online shopping users at the end of 2024, equivalent to 87.9% of the country's internet users. That was 59.47 million more online shoppers than a year earlier.

More recent official retail data show the scale of that behavior in spending terms: China's online retail sales reached 15.97 trillion yuan in 2025, while online sales of physical goods accounted for 26.1% of total retail sales of consumer goods.

How many people shop online in Europe?

Across the EU, 78% of internet users aged 16 to 74 bought or ordered goods or services online in 2025, according to Eurostat. But participation differs considerably by country.

Source: Eurostat, Digitalisation in Europe 2026

The 38-percentage-point gap between Ireland and Bulgaria is a useful reminder that even within the same region, “people shop online” can describe very different levels of penetration.

How many people shop online in India?

India's online shopping population is growing quickly, but definitions matter here. IAMAI and Kantar's Internet in India 2025 research finds that 230 million urban internet users shopped online in 2025, representing 56% of India's urban active internet user base. Of those shoppers, 209 million used traditional marketplaces, while quick commerce and social commerce reached 46 million and 43 million, respectively.

In a broader market context, IBEF estimates India's total online shopper base at roughly 290-300 million in 2025, with Tier-2 and smaller cities contributing around 65% of new shoppers.

Which age groups shop online the most?

Age changes the picture, too. Eurostat's 2025 data shows that 90% of EU internet users aged 25 to 34 bought online, compared with 84% of those aged 16 to 24. The pattern reinforces why a single population-wide penetration figure can hide meaningful differences between shopper groups.

How often do people shop online?

For ECDB's modeled global buyer base, online shopping is a recurring rather than an occasional activity. The average e-commerce buyer made 13.9 purchases in 2025, up from 13.4 in 2023. That's a little more than one online purchase per month on average.

Taken together, the regional data show why there is no single perfect answer to the question “How many people shop online?” The buyer base is enormous, but penetration varies by geography, age, and the population each source measures.

How are people shopping online in 2027?

Online shopping no longer revolves around a single device, a single storefront, or even a single country. Adobe Analytics found that 56.4% of U.S. online holiday transactions occurred on smartphones, making mobile the primary purchasing channel during the 2025 holiday season. (Adobe Newsroom)

The broader picture shows just how distributed the buying journey has become:

• Apps: 72% of shoppers describe themselves as app-first, yet only 38% of businesses let customers browse and buy in their own app, according to DHL's 2026 survey. (DHL e-commerce trends report) Marketplaces: They accounted for 83.4% of global e-commerce GMV in 2025, up from 81% in 2023, according to ECDB's 2026 research. This measures the value of commerce flowing through marketplaces, not the percentage of shoppers who use them. (ECDB e-commerce trends report)
• Across borders: 70% of shoppers buy from retailers outside their home country, according to DHL's data. That's up from 60% in its 2025 research. (DHL e-commerce trends report)
• 45% of shoppers buy across borders more than once a month, showing that international purchasing is a recurring habit for a substantial share of its active online-shopping sample. (DHL e-commerce trends report)

Taken together, these online shopping trends statistics show why the modern purchase journey is harder to reduce to “website versus store.” Shoppers can buy from a phone, transact through a marketplace, and order from a seller in another country, sometimes within the same journey. For retailers, shopper marketing increasingly has to account for that movement rather than treating each channel in isolation.

How many people shop on mobile? Mobile shopping trends

Mobile has become a primary buying channel, not just a place to browse. Adobe forecasts that 57.4% of U.S. online holiday spending will come through smartphones in 2026, up from 56.4% in 2025. On Thanksgiving, that share is expected to reach a record 63% of online spend. Adobe's forecast draws on more than 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites across 100 million SKUs and 18 product categories.

Apps are becoming just as important to the mobile journey. DHL's 2026 research finds that 72% of online shoppers primarily shop through retailer or marketplace apps, yet only 38% of e-commerce businesses allow customers to browse and buy through their own app. The study surveyed 29,000 online shoppers and 5,800 businesses across 29 countries.

The gap matters for e-commerce teams. Mobile optimization now extends beyond making a website fit a smaller screen. Shoppers increasingly expect to discover, evaluate, and complete purchases from their phones, including inside apps, so mobile needs to support the entire journey rather than simply redirect shoppers to a desktop.

How is social media influencing online shopping?

Social media is moving closer to the transaction itself. 45% of online shoppers in DHL's 2026 research have purchased through social media, based on its survey of 29,000 recent online shoppers across 29 active e-commerce markets.

But social commerce isn't concentrated on one platform. Among the social channels DHL measured, 63% of shoppers have purchased via Facebook, 50% via TikTok, and 48% via Instagram. YouTube follows at 29%, while Snapchat and Pinterest account for smaller shares.

Source: DHL E-Commerce Trends Report 2026

What shoppers see on those platforms matters as much as where they shop:

• Discounts and offers influence 63% of shoppers' purchasing decisions, making them the strongest social-content influence DHL measured.
• User-generated content influences 42% of respondents, placing it ahead of influencer partnerships in this survey.
• Shoppable posts influence 40% of purchases, showing how social content can shorten the path from seeing a product to buying it.
• How-to content and product demos influence 36% of respondents, compared with 34% for influencer partnerships and 30% for live-shopping events.

These behaviors also explain why social commerce is broader than a traditional social ad. Shoppable posts, livestreams, user-generated content, and other forms of social commerce can turn the same environment where shoppers discover products into part of the buying experience.

How important are reviews when shopping online?

Reviews can determine whether an online shopper feels confident enough to buy. 54% of shoppers in DHL's 2026 research have abandoned a purchase because there weren't enough product reviews or images, showing that missing social proof can become purchase friction rather than simply an information gap.

Reviews also influence shoppers in different parts of the journey:

• 42% of shoppers say user-generated content and customer reviews influence their social purchases, putting firsthand customer experiences alongside other content that shapes buying decisions.
• 63% of European consumers using AI for shopping compare brands, models, prices, and reviews, according to McKinsey's 2026 research. Another 41% trust GenAI tools specifically to summarize reviews and highlight trade-offs. (McKinsey & Company)
  
  The role of reviews is changing, too. Shoppers no longer have to read every comment themselves. AI can increasingly synthesize customer feedback, compare competing products, and surface recurring pros and cons. That makes the quality and credibility of review content more important as both people and AI tools use it to narrow purchase decisions.
  
  G2's own review data shows why context matters when businesses make similar decisions about the technology behind online shopping. Across 11,095 G2 reviews of E-Commerce Platforms, 91.6% are four- or five-star reviews, while users and administrators account for 79% of classified reviewer roles.
  
  Rather than treating a rating as the whole answer, buyers can examine feedback from people actually using and managing these platforms.
  For shoppers and software buyers alike, the principle is similar: a rating provides a shortcut, but firsthand experience provides the evidence behind it.

Why do online shoppers abandon purchases?

Unexpected costs are one of the clearest checkout deal-breakers in 2026. 42% of U.S. shoppers say they frequently or very often abandon an online cart when unexpected costs such as shipping, taxes, handling fees, or other charges appear at checkout, according to Bizrate Insights' survey of 1,010 U.S. adults conducted in March 2026. (Bizrate Insights)

And this isn't an occasional irritation limited to a small group. Another 45% say surprise costs sometimes cause them to abandon a cart, while only 12% say they rarely or never do so for this reason. The pattern suggests that the problem isn't necessarily paying an extra charge. It's discovering the true cost too late. (Bizrate Insights)

Price-related friction shows up in other ways, too. Bizrate's separate 2026 shopping habits research identifies three leading reasons shoppers abandon a planned purchase:

• High shipping costs lead at 45%, making the cost of getting the order home the most frequently cited reason.
• Finding a better price elsewhere influences 42% of shoppers, showing how easily they can reconsider when comparison shopping.
• Price or budgeting concerns account for 38%, while 32% hold off because they want to see if they still want the item later.
  
  These findings also help distinguish purchase friction from purchase intent. Someone who leaves because shipping suddenly changes the economics of an order is different from someone who saves an item and deliberately waits. That distinction matters when retailers decide whether the problem to solve is price transparency, competitiveness, or simply giving an undecided shopper a reason to return.
  
  Recent academic evidence points to the same broader pattern. A 2026 meta-analysis synthesizing 72 studies found that perceived cost, perceived risk, and transaction inconvenience consistently trigger online shopping cart abandonment, while stronger website information and visual effectiveness can reduce hesitation. (ScienceDirect)
  
  The practical takeaway is straightforward: retailers cannot eliminate every abandoned cart because not every cart represents immediate purchase intent. But making the total cost visible early and reducing uncertainty throughout the transaction can address the friction that businesses can actually influence.

How much do delivery and returns affect online purchases?

Delivery and returns can determine whether an online purchase happens at all. In DHL's 2026 research, 67% of online shoppers said they had abandoned a purchase because the delivery offering didn't meet their expectations, while 58% had done the same because of the returns offering. The study surveyed 29,000 recent online shoppers across 29 active e-commerce markets.

Trust adds another layer to that decision. 76% of DHL's surveyed shoppers won't buy from an online retailer if they don't trust its delivery or returns provider. That puts fulfillment into the purchase decision itself, rather than treating it as something shoppers think about only after checkout.

The latest Eurostat data shows what happens once an order has been placed:

• 35.4% of recent EU online shoppers reported encountering at least one problem when purchasing through a website or app. Eurostat defines online shoppers here as people aged 16 to 74 who had bought online during the previous three months.
• 19.9% reported delivery taking longer than indicated, making slow delivery the most common problem Eurostat measured. Another 10.4% received incorrect or damaged goods or services.
  
  These figures aren't directly comparable with DHL's abandonment data. DHL measures how delivery and return offerings can prevent a transaction, while Eurostat captures the problems EU shoppers experienced when buying online. Together, they show that fulfillment can influence the journey both before and after the buy button.
  
  Returns are also becoming more about convenience than simply sending an unwanted item back. DHL finds that 35% of shoppers return items through parcel shops and 28% through parcel lockers, as out-of-home options become part of the returns experience. That kind of flexibility is worth considering alongside other e-commerce platform features when retailers think about the complete experience they need to support.

How is AI changing online shopping in 2027?

AI is becoming part of the shopping journey, but mostly as an assistant rather than an autonomous buyer. NIQ's May 2026 consumer research found that 42% of consumers had used at least one AI tool to shop within the previous month, showing that AI-assisted shopping has already moved beyond a niche behavior.

What shoppers delegate to AI, however, varies considerably:

• 17% used AI for product recommendations, while 10% had engaged with an AI-powered shopping assistant. NIQ also found that 10% had used a voice assistant to purchase or reorder items.
• Only 5% had used a fully autonomous AI agent to place an order on their behalf. That gap is important: shoppers are much further along in using AI to support decisions than in handing over the transaction itself.
• 63% of European consumers use AI to compare brands, models, prices, or reviews, according to McKinsey's 2026 research. Another 55% use it to learn about products or categories, while 46% use AI for shopping inspiration and discovery.
• 56% of European shoppers are comfortable with AI suggesting options while leaving the final decision to a person. By comparison, 47% are uncomfortable allowing AI to automatically manage recurring purchases.
  
  The distinction matters. AI is already influencing the research and evaluation stages of online shopping, where comparing prices, summarizing information, narrowing choices, and finding products can save shoppers effort. The evidence is much weaker for the idea that consumers are ready to surrender the final buying decision.
  
  Observed retail traffic points in the same direction. Adobe's 2026 analysis found that shoppers arriving at U.S. retail sites from generative AI assistants converted 31% more often than visitors from other traffic sources during the 2025 holiday season. Those visitors were also 33% less likely to leave immediately, suggesting AI referrals can arrive with relatively strong purchase intent.

What does the future of online shopping look like?

The future of online shopping looks increasingly delegated, not just digital. Mastercard's 2026 research projects that more than 300 million online shoppers worldwide could routinely use AI agents to shop and pay on their behalf by 2030, pointing toward a future where software participates more actively in the purchase rather than simply helping shoppers research it.

That shift could change several parts of the online-shopping experience over the next few years:

• One-third of consumers are willing to let AI agents handle payments, according to Visa's 2026 Global Digital Shopping Index. If that willingness translates into behavior, parts of checkout that shoppers complete manually today could increasingly be delegated to software.
• Only 15% of merchants currently have product catalogs that AI agents can discover, according to Visa. That gap suggests the future of shopping will depend not only on whether consumers embrace agents, but also on whether retailers make their products understandable and accessible to them.
  
  The bigger implication isn't simply that “more people will use AI.” Today's online shopping journey still asks consumers to search, compare, evaluate, choose, and pay themselves. The next version could redistribute some of those steps between the shopper and an agent acting on their preferences. For retailers, that means the storefront of the future may need to work for machine shoppers as well as human ones, with clear product information, pricing, availability, policies, and permissions that both can interpret.

What G2 Data shows

G2's E-Commerce Platforms data provides the software-market lens on this shift, and Shopify is already adapting its commerce infrastructure for agent-assisted shopping. Shopify, a Leader in G2's Fall 2026 E-Commerce Platforms Grid®, now enables eligible merchants to make their products discoverable across AI shopping channels, including ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Mode and Gemini, and Meta. Depending on the channel, shoppers can move from AI-led discovery to the merchant's storefront or complete a Shopify-powered checkout within the AI experience.

There are early signs of this behavior translating into commerce activity. AI-driven traffic to Shopify stores grew 8x year over year in Q1 2026, while orders attributed to AI-powered searches increased nearly 13x, according to Shopify.

The shift extends beyond Shopify. Walmart introduced Agent Profiles and its Agent Gateway in October 2026, allowing shoppers to authorize AI agents to make purchases on their behalf while setting controls such as spending limits. Meta is also connecting its Muse shopping assistant with commerce infrastructure and retailers, including Shopify's catalog, Walmart, Best Buy, Sephora, Ulta, and Wayfair.

Together, these developments suggest that the next version of the online storefront may need to serve both machine and human shoppers. Product information, inventory, pricing, policies, and checkout increasingly need to be understandable not only to people browsing a store, but also to AI agents searching and acting on their behalf.

What do these online shopping statistics mean for you?

Online shopping is giving consumers more ways to discover, compare, and buy, but convenience alone doesn't guarantee a purchase. Reviews, transparent pricing, reliable delivery, easy returns, and trustworthy recommendations increasingly shape whether shoppers follow through.

For retailers, that makes the entire journey important. Mobile experiences, marketplaces, social commerce, checkout, fulfillment, and AI-assisted discovery need to work together rather than as separate touchpoints.

The takeaway is simple: winning an online shopper means reducing friction while making each interaction more relevant. As buying journeys become more distributed, retailers need technology that can adapt the experience without losing consistency or trust.

Want to make every shopping experience more relevant? Explore e-commerce personalization software to tailor product discovery and experiences around individual shoppers.