These products are driving the online sales boom during COVID-19

Consumer electronics are a global leader in online sales. Image: Unsplash

Katharina Buchholz
Data Journalist, Statista
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Retail, Consumer Goods and Lifestyle

  • Consumer electronics and household appliances are among the fastest growing areas in global online sales.
  • They also represent a high proportion of overall sales.
  • Food continues to lag behind.

Products traditionally associated with e-commerce are still among the fastest growing segments in global online sales, but other product categories are also moving online in rapid speed. According to the Statista Consumer Market Outlook, online sales of consumer electronics and apparel were still growing fast as a share of total sales. Around every fifth household appliance is also already bought online according to the data and that share is expected to grow to 31 percent by 2023.

Eyewear, which currently only has an online sales share in the single digits, is projected to catch up with more established categories by 2023, more than doubling online sales within the segment in six years. OTC pharmaceuticals, also a newer market for e-commerce, is expected to grow online sales almost as fast.

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Food – potentially the last frontier for e-commerce – still has a long was to go globally. While some countries are already spending one in five dollars of their grocery budget online, the global share of e-commerce food sales is projected at only 3 percent of global food sales in 2023.

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An online sales boom? Image: Statista
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