In reality, e-commerce is not only financial or trade transactions carried out using networks but also a chain of global business processes associated with conducting transactions.
Today, e-commerce includes the electronic purchase or sale of goods through online services or over the Internet, electronic funds transfers, online marketing, automated data collection systems, supply chain management, electronic data interchange (EDI), mobile commerce, inventory management systems, and online transaction processing.
How is E-commerce In Los Angeles and The World Developing?
With the growth of digitalization and the massive transition to online, e-commerce has become the driver of critical changes in the global economy. Access to e-commerce is now possible from any smart device: at the end of 2020, almost 10 billion smartphones, computers, and tablets are connected to the Internet. This already exceeds the Earth’s population (nearly 8 billion people). It is a matter that E-commerce In Los Angeles is considered in the top 10 most popular cities for online shopping. When the question arises, how E-commerce In Los Angeles can increase profit, the numbers give the answers uttermost.
Here are the main numbers:
- In 2021, according to forecasts, the number of online shoppers in the world will reach 2.14 billion people. In 2019 there were 2.05 billion and in 2018 – 1.79 billion.
- In total, e-commerce in 2021 will account for 18.1% of all retail sales in the world, and in 2023 – 22%;
- The volume of online sales in 2021 will be almost $ 5 trillion ;
- Among the top reasons people order products online are free shipping (53%), promotions and discounts (41%), the ability to read reviews (35%), ease of return (33%), and speed of checkout (30%);
- 33.6% of customers compare the prices of goods in an online application and a regular store before making a purchase, 81% study the information on the Web in detail before making large purchases.
Today, China is the absolute leader in online commerce: according to forecasts, in 2021, the e-commerce segment there for the first time in the world will exceed half of the total retail market. South Korea follows it with 28.9%, the USA with 15%, and Western Europe with 12.8%. Online sales for 2020 in China amounted to $ 2.3 trillion, $ 2.8 trillion is projected in 2021, and almost $ 3.1 trillion in 2022.
For comparison, in the US, the e-commerce market in 2020, according to eMarketer, was $ 709.8 billion; it will grow to $ 765 billion in 2021 and surpass $ 1 trillion by 2024. Almost half (45%) of all e-commerce in the country comes from mobile sales.
According to statistics, the E-commerce In Los Angeles in 2021 opened 853 e-commerce companies, which gained over $6679.52M in fundings.
The most successful e-commerce companies
- Alibaba
Monopolist of the Chinese e-commerce market and one of the largest companies in the world. The market capitalization of Alibaba in April 2021 marked a whopping $ 637 billion, making it the ninth most expensive company in the world. The company was founded in 1999 and operated in three areas: b2c (Tmall and Aliexpress), b2b (Alibaba), and c2c (Taobao). All three platforms have already entered the international market (including Russia), but the domestic market still accounts for the leading share. The company also has its payment system, Alipay, which operates internationally.
Alibaba’s model is similar to eBay: it acts as an aggregator for sellers – individuals, stores, or manufacturers – who ship the goods themselves.
- Amazon
Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, the company was originally an online bookstore. Twenty-five years later, Bezos has become the richest man globally with a fortune of $ 191.4 billion, and Amazon itself is the world’s online trading giant. The company’s market capitalization in April 2021 reached $ 1.68 trillion, and its revenues for 2020 amounted to $ 386 billion – 38% more than a year earlier. Net income for the same period increased by 84%.
Now 60% of Amazon’s revenue comes from Amazon Web Services IT solutions – cloud storage and services. The company regularly launches various products and services under its brand: e-readers Kindle, elements of the “smart” home, voice assistant Alexa, online cinema Amazon Prime. Amazon also has offline Amazon Go stores. They work using neural networks with facial recognition and computer vision: there are no checkouts and sellers, and purchases are paid automatically through the application.
The future of E-commerce In Los Angeles and the world
The e-commerce market will continue to grow. According to statistics, by 2040, up to 95% of all purchases will be made online. In 2021, global online sales will be $ 4.9 trillion.
Among the global trends in the development of e-commerce, it is worth highlighting:
- conscious consumption (environmentally friendly recyclable versus disposable),
- seamless (omnichannel) shopping,
- introduction of augmented and virtual reality,
- “Invisible” payments and payments on the face.
In other words, stores strive to make the shopping process as fast and comfortable as possible, and fun as the E-commerce In Los Angeles grows. Amazon Fresh still acquires 40% of the market for E-commerce In Los Angeles when it comes to grocery shopping.
E-commerce is heading towards personalization: through intelligent search and selection of products, personal recommendations, online stylists, and other tools. AI will analyze all your purchases and preferences, making personal recommendations based on your characteristics. Grocery chains are already implementing a selection of products based on genetic testing and fundamental medical indicators.
Another notable trend is hybrid formats: offline supermarkets and retail chains go online and open entire zones for self-pickup or online shopping. Another example of offline and online formats is Amazon Go stores: customers can buy any product without cash registers and sellers using an application and cameras with face recognition.
Other trends include:
- E-commerce In Los Angeles and its elements are actively implemented in social networks: today, you can buy or go to the product page directly from TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and YouTube;
- The global b2b e-commerce market, which already exceeds b2c turnover, will grow at a faster pace, on average 17.5% annually until 2027;
- Mobile applications will replace all other online sales channels – “smart” voice assistants, AR applications for fitting, as well as payments using PayPass will come to the aid of consumers.