Ecommerce share of retail sales shows what portion of total retail spending happens online. It’s one of the most cited “market penetration”
metrics because it answers a simple question: how much of retail is already digital, and how fast that share is growing.
Back to the hub:
E-commerce Statistics.
For a size + share view, pair this page with
global e-commerce market size.
Key benchmarks (quick reference)
These benchmark points describe the share of total retail sales that takes place online worldwide. Always cite the year and the source.
20.5%
2025: ecommerce share of total global retail sales.
19.9%
2024: ecommerce share of total global retail sales.
22.5%
2028: projected ecommerce share of total global retail sales.
18.5%
2022: ecommerce share of total global retail sales (baseline reference).
If you want a clean narrative: “Ecommerce is taking a larger slice of retail (share up year-over-year), even when growth rates slow.”
For the market value behind the share, cite:
global e-commerce market size.
Worldwide ecommerce share of total retail sales (2022–2028)
A citation-friendly series with a simple “share” line and year-over-year change in percentage points (pp).
| Year | Ecommerce share of total retail sales | YoY change (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 18.5% | — |
| 2023 | 19.3% | +0.8 |
| 2024 | 19.9% | +0.6 |
| 2025 | 20.5% | +0.6 |
| 2026 | 21.1% | +0.6 |
| 2027 | 21.8% | +0.7 |
| 2028 | 22.5% | +0.7 |
A practical reporting line (based on the table above): ecommerce share increased from 18.5% (2022) to 22.5% (2028 forecast),
a gain of 4.0 percentage points over the period.
How to interpret ecommerce share of retail
Share is a penetration metric. It is most useful when you pair it with market size, growth, and a few “why” drivers.
-
Use share + size together. Share tells you penetration; size tells you absolute dollars.
Pair this with global market size. -
Explain the drivers. Device behavior often shapes adoption narratives—link to
mobile share of traffic
and mobile share of revenue. - Don’t overgeneralize. Global share is an average across markets. Country-level penetration can be much higher or lower.
- Forecasts differ. Some forecasts use different scopes or methods, which can shift 2028 share estimates.
Alternate 2028 forecast range (example)
One forecast projects ecommerce to capture about 24% of global retail sales by 2028 (scope and methodology may differ).
Use this as a “range framing” if your audience expects multiple sources.
Definition
Be explicit: “share of retail sales” should not be mixed with “share of total commerce” metrics.
Ecommerce share of retail sales is typically calculated as:
Ecommerce share = Retail ecommerce sales ÷ Total retail sales × 100
- Retail ecommerce sales refers to online retail transactions in a year (definition depends on the source).
- Total retail sales is all retail (online + offline) in the same year.
- Always include the words “share of total retail sales” and the year when citing.
Reference pages: Glossary • Methodology
Sources
Primary sources for the worldwide share series and forecast context.
-
EMARKETER — chart showing % of total retail sales (2022–2028) and key share statements:
emarketer.com/content/…more-than-20–of-worldwide-retail-sales… -
EMARKETER chart image — “% of total retail sales, 2022–2028” (source note: EMARKETER Forecast, Feb 2025):
emarketer.com/content/storage/…/289739 -
Shopify — summary of ecommerce share (20.5% in 2025; 22.5% by 2028), citing EMARKETER:
shopify.com/blog/global-ecommerce-sales -
Forrester — alternate 2028 forecast framing (example: ~24% share by 2028):
forrester.com/blogs/global-retail-e-commerce-sales-will-reach-6-8-trillion-by-2028/
Hub-wide pages:
Sources •
Methodology •
Glossary
Cite this page
Copy and paste (adjust date if needed).
Suggested citation (APA style):
Best for Ecommerce. (2026). Ecommerce share of retail sales (worldwide). Retrieved from
/ecommerce-statistics/market-size-growth/ecommerce-share-of-retail/