Online shopping in getting bigger, better and easier in the US. With more and more vendors offering products for sale directly on their websites, consumer have pretty much everything they need right at their fingertips (with the exception of, you know, human interaction. But who needs people when you have free shipping?!).
In fancy business terms, this direct connection between businesses and consumers is called B2C e-commerce and the overall market in the US is growing at a CAGR of 11.40 percent. This strong growth can be mostly chalked up to the fact that most Americans have smartphones, are connected to the internet, and would rather not leave their homes unless absolutely necessary.
Jokes aside, a shift in lifestyle (including less free time, but more free income) of the average American has driven more people to the internet for their basic needs—you can get everything from bath and beauty products, to electronics to food online.
E-commerce: Killing social interaction since 2013.
As of 2013, the most popular product to buy online in the US was travel. This makes sense, as the travel and tourism sector was one of the first to jump on the B2C bandwagon and really, when was the last time you visited a travel agent in the real world? This was not-so-closely followed by computers and electronics, apparel, and entertainment like books, music and DVDs (thanks, Amazon!).
The interesting thing in the B2C market in the US is how it’s projected to grow over the next four years. The graphs below show the market segmentation in both 2013 and 2018.
While travel products will still dominate the market, apparel and accessories will gain a much stronger foothold and the food and drink segment will boom, with a CAGR of 17 percent.
More and more fast food places are offering online ordering systems, which allow customers to skip the phone and place an order for delivery directly on the company’s website. And big companies like Amazon and Whole Foods Market are trying their hand at online grocery delivery
Because nowadays, convenience is key and if these vendors are going to stay competitive in the B2C e-commerce market in the US, they need to be able to offer quick, accessible services for an ever-growing online population.
