The pandemic led to unprecedented growth in US ecommerce sales. Even as sales growth returns to somewhat normal levels in 2021, total sales will far exceed our pre-pandemic estimates.

Following a strong Q1 fueled by government stimulus, we have increased our forecast for US retail ecommerce sales in 2021. US ecommerce sales are expected to grow 17.9% this year (higher than the 13.7% predicted in January 2021) to reach $933.30 billion. That pushes ecommerce’s share of total US retail sales to 15.3%, up from 14.0% last year. Ecommerce is now on track to surpass 20% of total retail by 2024.

Amazon’s US ecommerce sales will grow by 15.3% this year to $367.19 billion after a meteoric 44.1% rise in sales during 2020.

Even before the pandemic, ecommerce channel advertising was attracting a lot of attention from advertisers—especially in verticals like consumer packaged goods (CPG)—as well as retailers, which hoped to add new higher-margin revenue streams to their businesses after seeing Amazon’s success in the area. Amazon had become the No. 3 digital ad seller in the US thanks primarily to placements on its ecommerce property, and companies including Walmart, Target, and eBay had been growing similar businesses.

The 2020 holiday season’s unprecedented ecommerce surge helped total US retail spending remain positive, setting the tone for healthy outlook for 2021 holiday season growth.

Social commerce accelerated in the US in 2020 amid the pandemic-driven ecommerce boom as key platforms advanced their shopping and checkout capabilities.

The consumer packaged goods (CPG) category has seen tremendous growth thanks to ecommerce. Learn how Nestlé, one of the world's largest food companies, quickly pivoted and accelerated its digital transformation by leaning into shoppable commerce to drive digital purchases. Watch Industry Voices Spotlight on CPG with Alicia Enciso, CMO of Nestlé USA.

Our latest forecast shows that Amazon, Walmart, and eBay will remain the top three largest ecommerce companies in the US by total sales volume, while Best Buy and Target will usurp The Home Depot and Wayfair for the No. 5 and No. 6 spots on the 2021 list, respectively.

Almost all digital display advertising is transacted programmatically now—but that doesn't mean programmatic isn't still evolving. Gila Wilensky, president, US at programmatic media firm Xaxis, joins eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin to discuss what Xaxis is expecting for the next 10 years of programmatic advertising, including how AI will continue to evolve in the space, how addressability and measurability will change post-cookie, and what the maturation of ecommerce means for digital advertising.

Pandemic-fueled ecommerce growth propelled sponsored product and brand ad business

Amazon’s net US digital ad revenues will rise by 41.0% this year as consumers shift dramatically to more ecommerce shopping and advertisers pay to get in front of shoppers at their leading destination.