The global online market is expected to grow 15% per year

According to a report by OC&C Strategy Consultants, the rise of the online marketplace model is maintaining its momentum since the emergence of e-commerce in the 1990s, as online marketplaces such as Amazon, Expedia and eBay drive a fundamental shift in consumer spending.

The report predicts that by 2025, spending through the top online marketplaces will exceed the vast majority of e-commerce outlets in established retail and travel categories. In 2020 alone, Western consumers’ combined spending in these categories exceeded $1 trillion, accounting for 40% of total consumer online spending.

The report estimates that across all established market categories, the global online market will continue to grow at 15% per year and by 2025 it will account for around 45-50% of online spending.

The report also shows that consumer purchasing habits have undergone amazing changes. Online marketplaces are rapidly becoming the first choice for consumers and some suppliers, and these platforms have also ushered in significant development. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to online marketplaces, its unstoppable share growth shows no signs of slowing down.

In addition to this, the US online market dominates its European online market counterparts, and although many European marketplaces such as Zalando operate successfully, most of them simply cannot compete with their US counterparts in terms of scale. China has three of the world's four largest e-commerce markets (Taobao, Tmall and JD.com). All three are expected to expand their influence in Western markets by 2030.

It is understood that the online marketplace will also expand in new verticals. Among these are B2B products, where the marketplace is breaking away from the traditional wholesale sales model by developing a tool that is closely adapted to the specific needs of its vertical industry.

At the same time, the second-hand goods market will also flourish, with consumers showing an increasing awareness of sustainability when purchasing, which in turn creates a wider and more geographically diverse group of buyers and sellers. In short, despite the increasing competition in the global online market, its market share is also increasing, especially for European and American e-commerce sellers, and there is a lot to be done in 2022!

Global Online Marketplace

Continued growth