E-commerce is impacting retail across industries, but some retailers have more at stake in the trend than others, depending on the types of products they sell.
A majority of U.S. consumers report having bought electronics, books, or clothing online last year, according to a survey with 1,000 respondents from marketing agency Walker Sands.
- Sixty-nine percent of Americans purchased electronics online in 2013, more than any other product category.
- A slightly smaller proportion of consumers said they purchased books or clothing online last year.
- On the low-end of the scale, only 6% of Americans purchased a "luxury good" online.
- Although supermarkets are big business offline, only 20% of consumers purchased food or groceries online in 2013.
The findings indicate that three major product categories — electronics, books, and clothing — have already completed the transition to online commerce. Although the chart does not show sales volume, we believe e-commerce is in fact taking market share away from bricks-and-mortars in these product categories.
Luxury retailers and grocers can afford to be a bit slower to adapt to e-commerce. Consumers are showing that they are hesitant about buying their food sight unseen, and high-priced luxury goods are worth the effort visit a store and see the product in-person. However, the low numbers of consumers buying these products online also mean there's a big opportunity for retailers who can "crack the code," and figure out a way to sell these categories online.
Download the chart and data in Excel.
