Highlights. Worldwide, there were 27.2 million online stores in 2024.
- In the United States, there were 13.7 million online stores in 2024.
- There are 2.71 billion online shoppers worldwide in 2024, representing 33.4% of the global population.
- 273 million Americans shopped online in 2023, representing 96.4% of the U.S. population aged 14+.
- In 2023, global online retail sales totaled $5.82 trillion and are expected to reach $6.33 trillion in 2024.
Number of Online Stores
Between varying definitions and a constantly changing total, estimates of the number of online stores vary. The statistics provided here are based on totals of all online stores using the most popular online payment technologies.
- There are over 13.7 million online stores in the U.S. in 2024, representing 50.4% of global online stores.
- From 2023 to 2024, the number of online stores in the U.S. decreased by 2.1%, from 14 million to 13.7 million.
- From 2023 to 2024, the number of online stores in the world grew by 2.6%, from 26.5 million to 27.2 million.
- After the United States, the United Kingdom hosts the highest number of online stores with 1.3 million, or 4.8% of all global online stores.
- Although China has the largest number of online shoppers globally, it only hosted 79,900 online stores in 2023, or 0.3% of all global online stores.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the global number of online stores rose from 9.7 million to 19.8 million, an increase of 204% and 10.1 million stores.
Number of Online Stores by Service Provider
While many online stores implement their own payment portals or marketplaces, others use popular e-commerce services like Shopify. The figures in this section were sourced in July 2024.
- Shopify leads with 4.79 million active sites globally and 2.71 million in the United States.
- Wix Stores is the second most popular e-commerce service, with 3.45 million active sites globally and 2.16 million in the United States.
- WooCommerce Checkout is close behind, with 3.41 million active sites globally and 1.60 million in the United States.
- Shopify holds 17.6% of the global e-commerce service market share, and 19.8% of the U.S. e-commerce service market share.
- In comparison, Wix Stores holds a 12.7% share of the global e-commerce service market and 15.8% of the U.S. market.
- WooCommerce Checkout holds a 12.5% global share and an 11.7% U.S. e-commerce market share.
Number of Online Stores by Industry
Although many online stores do not fit into a specific category, they remain common across nearly every retail industry vertical.
- Health is the most common vertical for online stores as of July 2023, with 464,180 online stores globally and 285,760 in the United States.
- Clothing is the second most common vertical, with 392,750 online stores globally and 254,220 in the United States.
- 294,870 online stores sell food globally, compared to 155,800 in the United States.
- Globally, sports is the 4th most common category with 220,480 online stores; in the United States, home and garden is 4th with 123,300 stores.
Number of Online Shoppers
The convenience of online shopping continues to drive its use, both in the U.S. and globally.
- An estimated 2.71 billion people globally shop online in 2024, including 273.5 million Americans.
- 10.1% of online shoppers worldwide are based in the United States.
- In 2023, there were 2.64 billion online shoppers worldwide, or 33% of the global population.
- By 2025, the number of global online shoppers is expected to increase 4.92% to 2.77 billion.
- In 2023, there were 259.1 million online shoppers in the United States; by 2025, this is predicted to increase by 11.3% to 288.5 million.
- China is the largest online market in the world by number of consumers, with 915.0 million online shoppers, or 33.8% of all online shoppers worldwide.
Online Store Sales Volume
The global volume of sales made through online stores continues to grow, as does the percentage of all sales that are made through online stores.
- In 2023, global online retail sales totaled $5.82 trillion, an increase of 10.0% from 2022.
- eCommerce represented 19.4% of all global retail sales in 2023.
- By 2027, global online retail sales are expected to rise 36.7%, reaching $7.96 trillion.
- In 2023, sales via online stores in the U.S. totaled $1.24 trillion, or 21.4% of all global online retail sales.
- In 2023, sales via online stores in China reached $2.93 trillion, or 50.4% of all global online retail sales.
- 15.0% of all U.S. retail sales in 2023 were made through online stores, compared to 45.9% of all Chinese retail sales.
- By 2027, 22.6% of all global retail sales are expected to take place online.
- In 2023, industry giant Amazon held a 45.2% share of all U.S. visits to e-commerce websites.
Consumers and Online Stores
Consumers who shop online prefer the speed and convenience of online stores.
- 51% of U.S. consumers prefer to shop online.
- When asked for the primary reason they prefer to shop online, 29% of Americans said 24/7 availability, 25% said the ability to shop from home, and 11% said easy-to-access discount codes.
- In 2018, 20% of online shoppers worldwide used online stores once a week, 24% once every two weeks, and 31% once a month.
- In 2023, an estimated 8.0% of U.S. retail sales were made on mobile devices; by 2025, this is projected to increase to 10.4%.
- Worldwide, consumers shopping online in 2023 spent an average of $2,205 per year.
- In the United States, consumers shopping online in 2023 spent an average of $4,798 per year.
These data and insights were compiled by the Capital One Shopping team based on publicly available data.
Sources
- Markinblog, Study: What Is the Number of eCommerce Sites Worldwide?
- BuiltWith
- United Nations Population Fund, World Population Dashboard
- Oberlo, How Many People Shop Online?
- Statista, Industry Overview
- Insider Intelligence
- Raydiant, State of Consumer Behavior
- U.S. Census Bureau News, Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales