Many sellers are trying to define their goals and strategy for the new year and what million dollar question they face is wondering what is the expected ecommerce growth in 2022. If you went back in time to various parts of 2021, there was a strong feel of a return to normal was going to happen at any time. With that, the thought was that while ecommerce had exploded in growth over the last two years, it may perhaps level off in 2022 as we return to normal. With Covid still playing a major role however, online sellers can rest assured that ecommerce will continue its growth well into 2022.
While we are not seeing the same level of business closure and shutdowns that we saw in 2020 and 2021 as Covid spread and expanded, we are seeing shoppers having a reluctance to put themselves in any unneeded risk. As a result, if something can be easily purchased online, shoppers will continue to do so to avoid the in person transaction. So what is the expected ecommerce growth in 2022 as it relates to retail? You can expect that more and more retail locations will continue to increase their online presence and divert the focus from selling in person to selling online. As foot traffic decreases in places like shopping malls or big box stores, the online traffic will be increasing to capture the lost sales. You can see as great example is the continued investment by Walmart to expand their ecommerce offerings. As their physical locations continue to make sales however year over year seeing a much large growth in ecommerce sales percentages.
What is the expected ecommerce growth in 2022 will always depend on how you look at the numbers as well. With an industry like ecommerce which has experienced the rapid and explosive growth since the pandemic started, it is close to impossible to maintain that level especially given the closures of in person retail locations in 2020 and 2021 due to pandemic spread. While Covid will continue to play a role, many shoppers have become vaccinated and comfortable with going out to in person shopping so you will continue to see a dip in growth when compared to the last two years however comparing the growth of ecommerce over the last five years you will see an amazing growth that is correcting itself for the inflated last two years.
Before the pandemic, ecommerce was already was one of the fastest growing spaces and with Covid, it only made the growth happen more rapidly. What is the expected ecommerce growth in 2022 is to see online marketplaces and brands continue to outperform any in person or physical location percent wise especially year over year when comparing the last five years of overall growth.
