The pandemic supercharged ecommerce sales in the US, accelerating the digital market about two years into the future in terms of its penetration of total retail sales.

Aussies love their social commerce! Or so it would seem, based on eMarketer’s inaugural forecast for social buying in Australia.

Where are people buying into social buying?

Amazon is maneuvering to become a dominant player in direct-to-consumer healthcare services, beginning with its online pharmacy and telehealth services for its employees. It may acquire more healthcare delivery outlets, such as primary care and urgent care clinics. Entrenched industry players are watching carefully.

We expect US social commerce sales to rise by 35.8% in 2021 to $36.62 billion. That’s only a slight deceleration in growth from 2020, when sales surged by 38.9% thanks to the pandemic-driven boom in ecommerce, increased social media consumption, and brands continuing to leverage these platforms to sell directly to consumers.

US ecommerce sales are projected to continue double digit growth.

As brick-and-mortar stores remained shuttered, ecommerce quickly became the channel of choice for many consumers in Latin America. In turn, retailers quickly shifted their attention toward online sales channels to keep pace with consumers’ growing appetite for online shopping.

China’s second-largest annual shopping festival broke records last month, generating more sales and attracting more brands than ever before. Held each year around June 18, the 618 promotional event is still smaller than Singles’ Day, but its rising scale reflects a growing appetite for a midyear alternative to the November ecommerce extravaganza.

Back to class: US back-to-school ecommerce sales will grow more than 13% this year, even after last year’s spike, increasing their share of total back-to-school sales this season.

Top 10 countries for ecommerce growth

Our forecast for Instagram shoppers

Sticky consumer shopping habits and Thanksgiving store closures will likely set the stage for ecommerce this holiday season.

Amazon’s $300 billion lead over Walmart

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.

In this Meet the Analyst Webinar, Jeremy Goldman, eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, discussed how brand and retail marketers can navigate these trends, and win the hearts, minds, and wallets of today’s consumers.

Amazon’s flagship sales event is reportedly scheduled for June despite historically taking place in July—and being delayed to October in 2020—in a bid to maximize the event’s performance.

Amazon's antitrust debut: DC's lawsuit marks the company's first formal complaint by the US government—but with several probes ongoing and with Amazon continuing its rapid expansion, more suits are certain to come soon.

Delivery logistics are deterring shoppers

Across brick and mortar and ecommerce, the customer experience landscape has changed dramatically—and permanently—during the pandemic.