Following nearly 10 years of double-digit growth, ecommerce sales in Canada surpassed 10% of total retail sales for the first time last year, reaching 12.7%. Since 2019, ecommerce sales have nearly doubled their share, reaching $64.51 billion this year.

Overall, we expect total retail livestreaming ecommerce sales in China to reach $299.66 billion in 2021, including livestream sessions on both ecommerce and social media platforms. The total number of livestream ecommerce buyers in China will hit 320.1 million—of which 60.7%, or 194.2 million, will make a purchase via a livestream on social media at least once this year.

Our forecasts for retail and ecommerce sales are updated on a biannual basis in order to continually incorporate the latest changes and developments in the global marketplace.

On today's episode, we discuss the most interesting aspects of Amazon's Q1 results, including whether it's losing in groceries, shoppers who may never go back into stores, and how local businesses are fighting back against Amazon in Canada. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer director of forecasting Cindy Liu and analyst at Insider Intelligence Daniel Keyes.

According to our latest forecast, Amazon will generate $70.56 billion in consumer electronics/computer sales in the US, accounting for 45.1% of the category’s overall ecommerce sales and 22.3% of its total retail sales. It will generate $40.41 billion in apparel/accessories sales, good for 29.8% of ecommerce sales and 10.9% of total retail sales.

The adoption of social commerce—the ability to shop and buy, directly or indirectly, via social media platforms—accelerated during the pandemic. The vast majority of social commerce today is within the discovery and consideration stages. However, checkout capabilities are not available from the leading social networks in Canada.

Nearly two-thirds (62%) of consumers from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US said they were more likely to buy a product if they were able to view customer photos and videos, according to a December 2020 survey from Bazaarvoice conducted by Savanta.

Retail ecommerce was thrust forward in 2020, mostly due to periodic stay-at-home measures enacted across the country. During mandated quarantines in the first wave of the pandemic and a second wave in the fall that coincided with the holiday shopping season, consumers shopped online to a degree they never had before. Retailers in Canada quickly adapted to these new conditions, setting them up for continued high volumes of online ordering in 2021.

Facebook’s US and Canada ad revenues came in at roughly $8.38 billion, up from $7.20 billion in Q1 2019. The US and Canada accounted for roughly 48% of Facebook’s worldwide revenues. On the earnings call, Facebook CFO David Wehner said the precipitous drop in revenues during March had moderated in the start of Q2.

Ecommerce’s share of total retail in Canada is higher than we previously expected, as brick-and-mortar outlets are forced to shutter and online shopping becomes a necessity.

eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Paul Briggs discusses what he's paying attention to in 2021 and why: online grocery shopping, food delivery apps, and more 2021 trends to watch out for in Canada.