US e-commerce sales rise 17.8% during 2016, looking ahead this 2017 holiday season

The retail e-commerce sales in the US spiked by 17.8% $95.20 billion during the 2016 holiday season, a humongous rate that aided to increase total retail sales on the upward tick of 4.8% to reach $899.25 billion (Including gas station sales and products or services ordered using the Internet, regardless of the method of payment or fulfillment), citing the eMarketer study, furninfo.com reported.Also, for the 2017 holiday season, the study forecasts e-commerce to leapfrog to 15.8%, at the same time witness a decline of the total retail growth to 2%. Stating that the e-commerce logged a record 10.6% of total retail sales in the US during the 2016 holiday season, the study went on to say that the dip in the foot traffic continued to impact the traditional players. As per one study, foot traffic fell by 12.3% in November and December 2016.Mobile commerce continued to expand in 2016. ComScore Inc forecasted that the US holiday season retail e-commerce sales on its platform surged 44% last year, accounting for 21% of total e-commerce for Q4 2016. Other providers reported an even higher mobile share of sales, noted the report. The core holiday season began even earlier in 2016, with major Black Friday sales starting the week before Thanksgiving. The online season also-ran closer to Christmas, with both consumers and retailers more confident in the ability to have products shipped in time.

Digital and Mobile Buyers 2016Last year, 176.7 million people (14 and over) in the US made an online purchase at least once, up 4.0%. In 2016, the number of mobile buyers grew 11.98% to 136.34 million people 14 and over. Last year, 64.41% of mobile buyers used a Smartphone to complete the purchase. The share of mobile buyers using smartphones continues to increase, while the share of those using tablets declines.Full Year Sales 2016For the full year of 2016, total retail sales touched $4.85 trillion (includes gas station sales, excludes travel and event tickets), up 2.9% over 2015. E-commerce grew 16.2% to $398.42 billion in 2016. M-commerce grew 43.2% to reach $115.94 billion. That represents 29.1% of full year e-commerce sales and 2.39% of full-year total retail sales. In 2016, as in years past, the apparel and accessories category captured the bulk (18.7%) of all retail spending, followed by computers and electronics (16.3%).The convergence between physical and online shopping continued during the 2016 holiday season, with more ads driving foot traffic and more online services enhancing the in-store experience. According to the research report, Amazon is still on top of the e-commerce landscape in the US. According to one study, 38.0% of US retail e-commerce sales during the 2016 holiday season took place on Amazon, with the percentage increasing as the season progressed. The gap between holiday season e-commerce sales growth and total retail sales growth in the US was 13 percentage points in 2016, down one percentage point from 2015.This 2017 holiday season, the e-commerce market is expected to climb 15.8% says an expert from eMarketer.  Amazon is now the world's third-largest retailer and ranks No. 83rd on Forbes' Global 2000 list.  Wal-Mart (No. 17) and CVS (No. 66) are still the two largest retailers on the planet, but Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (No. 140) isn't far behind in sixth place. Jack Ma's empire is the only foreign retailer to appear in the top ten and has leapfrogged Target (No. 227).