With the development of online retail around the world, more consumers are turning to the Internet for the purchase of various products and services ranging from large travel packages to small daily necessities such as groceries. A global survey conducted in late 2015 revealed that across the major emerging and advanced markets, clothing and electronics were the top two products categories purchased online. And yet, there are certain differences among online shoppers worldwide with regard to the ranking of product categories that they buy via connected computers and mobile devices. For example, in Argentina, Australia, South Africa and Spain, entertainment products such as event tickets are ahead of both clothing and electronics in terms of online shoppers’ share. In India and Egypt, electronics are in the lead among physical product categories, while in the USA, the UK, Japan and many other countries worldwide clothing is the number one online product.

Groceries are gaining increased attention in global B2C E-Commerce. Though this category is still purchased by a relatively small share of online shoppers compared to other products, with global consumers becoming more acquainted with the comfort of shopping online, the popularity of online grocery is rising. The younger generation of consumers especially is likely to grasp the online groceries trend and multiple competitors in Asia, Europe, North America and other regions are set to respond to the growing demand.

For more information about online shoppers’ preferences regarding product categories, see our report Global B2C E-Commerce Market 2016.