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Online shopping continues to expand, but the headline figures are not all the same kind of evidence. EMARKETER’s February 2025 forecast put worldwide retail ecommerce sales at $6.880 trillion in 2026; official US data and Eurostat’s 2025 figures show what shoppers and retailers reported in specific markets, while DHL’s numbers are survey responses. The statistics below keep those distinctions, dates, and populations attached.
How much do people spend shopping online?
Worldwide retail ecommerce sales are forecast to reach $6.880 trillion in 2026, according to an EMARKETER forecast vintage dated February 2025 and reproduced by Shopify. This is a projection, not a final measured 2026 total. EMARKETER forecast $6.419 trillion for 2025 and $7.886 trillion for 2028. The same forecast projected 7.2% year-over-year growth in worldwide retail ecommerce sales in 2026. Source: Shopify reproducing EMARKETER.
These figures describe online retail sales, not the full ecommerce economy. They should not be conflated with business-to-business (B2B) transactions, and they remain forecasts that can change as new data and estimates emerge.
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The U.S. Census Bureau estimated seasonally adjusted US retail ecommerce sales at $340.2 billion in the second quarter of 2026. That estimate was 12.2% higher than in Q2 2025 and 3.8% higher than in Q1 2026; ecommerce represented 17.1% of total US retail sales. The sales estimate is not adjusted for price changes, so the year-over-year increase is not, by itself, a measure of growth in inflation-adjusted purchasing volume. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
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What percentage of retail sales are online?
For worldwide retail, EMARKETER forecast that ecommerce would account for 21.1% of total retail sales in 2026. This is a forecast share, not a reported final outcome. For the United States, the Census Bureau’s Q2 2026 estimate put ecommerce at 17.1% of total retail sales. The figures cover different geographies and evidence types, so they are useful as context rather than a like-for-like comparison. Global forecast; US estimate.
For the European Union, Eurostat’s 2026 edition reported that 24% of businesses conducted e-sales in 2025, up from 19% in 2015. The corresponding rate was 48% among large businesses and 23% among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This measures whether a business made e-sales, not the share of all retail sales made online. Source: Eurostat.
How many people shop online?
Eurostat reported that 78% of people in the EU bought or ordered goods or services online in 2025, compared with 62% in 2015. Within the EU, the share of internet users who bought online during the preceding 12 months varied from 57% in Bulgaria to 95% in Ireland. These are different measures: the overall EU figure refers to people, while the country range is specifically among internet users. Source: Eurostat, 2026 edition reporting 2025 data.
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Age differences in EU online shopping
In 2025, 84% of EU residents aged 16–24 and 55% of residents aged 65–74 shopped online, according to Eurostat. These percentages refer to the stated age groups and resident population, not to all EU internet users. Source: Eurostat.
How much do businesses earn from online sales?
Eurostat reported that e-sales accounted for 19% of EU business turnover in 2025. The share was 24% for large businesses and 12% for SMEs. This turnover measure differs from the percentage of businesses that made any e-sales: the former describes the contribution to turnover, while the latter describes business adoption. Source: Eurostat.
What are the biggest ecommerce trends in 2026?
DHL eCommerce’s 2026 E-Commerce Trends Report draws on a survey of 29,000 online shoppers and 5,800 ecommerce businesses across 29 countries. Its survey ran from December 15, 2025, to February 11, 2026. These figures describe survey respondents, not a census of all shoppers or businesses. Source: DHL eCommerce.
Cross-border shopping and delivery
- 70% of surveyed shoppers said they had bought internationally, compared with 60% in the 2025 report; 45% said they bought across borders more than once a month.
- The report said more than three in ten orders were being sent internationally.
- Among businesses not yet shipping across borders, 25% said cross-border delivery capabilities were a priority for the next 12 months.
These results point to international demand alongside a practical fulfillment challenge: serving cross-border orders requires delivery capabilities that some surveyed merchants had not yet adopted. The survey percentages should not be treated as market-wide order counts or business adoption rates. Source: DHL eCommerce.
Delivery and cart abandonment
In DHL’s survey, 67% of online shoppers said they had abandoned a cart because of the delivery offering. Separately, 52% of surveyed businesses identified that same reason for shoppers dropping out. One figure reflects shoppers’ reported behavior; the other reflects businesses’ reported view, so the two are not directly equivalent measurements. Source: DHL eCommerce.
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Social commerce: selling and buying are separate measures
Among DHL’s surveyed businesses, 63% said they sold on social channels. Among surveyed shoppers, 45% said they bought through social commerce channels. These percentages use different respondent groups and do not represent a conversion rate. Source: DHL eCommerce.
Marketplaces and resale
DHL reported that 59% of surveyed global shoppers had sold something on marketplaces. Among Europeans who sold items, 68% were sending them via out-of-home locations, such as parcel shops or lockers. The latter figure refers to that regional seller group and its delivery method, not to all European shoppers. Source: DHL eCommerce.
A separate International Trade Administration summary of survey data said that roughly three in ten online shoppers began product searches on ecommerce marketplaces in 2023. In that same 2023 comparison, 18% started with in-store browsing, while search engines and brand websites each accounted for 14%. This is dated channel-preference survey data, not a 2026 measurement. Source: International Trade Administration.
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How to read ecommerce forecasts and survey statistics
- Forecasts are projections. EMARKETER’s 2026 global totals and online retail share came from a February 2025 forecast vintage reproduced by Shopify; they are not final measured results.
- Official estimates have defined scope. The Census Bureau’s US figure is a seasonally adjusted quarterly estimate and is not adjusted for price changes.
- Survey findings describe respondents. DHL’s figures come from surveyed shoppers and businesses across 29 countries; they do not automatically describe every shopper or merchant.
- Check the denominator. A share of people, a share of internet users, a share of businesses, business turnover, and a share of retail sales answer different questions.
- Keep year and geography visible. The 2023 product-search finding should not be presented as a 2026 behavior measure, and EU statistics should not be generalized to the world.
Additional market forecasts with limited published detail
The International Trade Administration page also cites a forecast valuing the global B2B ecommerce market at $36 trillion by 2026, and a forecast of $5.5 trillion in global B2C ecommerce revenue by 2027 with 14.4% compound annual growth. The reviewed page does not provide a clear forecast vintage or detailed methodology for these claims. Treat them as attributed forecasts, not verified current measurements or directly comparable retail ecommerce totals. Source: International Trade Administration.
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