2021 US ecommerce holiday shopping statistics, and what it means for the 2022 holiday season.

When the coronavirus pandemic began to fluctuate in the fall of 2021, even the savviest retail experts were at a loss to predict what the outcome of Black Friday and beyond would represent for online and brick-and-mortar stores. From doom and gloom to unprecedented gains, guesses were all over the map. Surely, no one imagined that sales would rise to such a level during the 2021 holiday season, but will the trend continue into this year?

US 2021 ecommerce holiday shopping statistics.

Sales. 

From in-person shopping to online commerce, sales rose significantly in 2021, even when compared to the previous pandemic year. The overall figure was close to 10%. Needless to say, the world underwent drastic changes between 2019 and 2021. Most notably, COVID-19 forever altered the way people shop and interact with each other. Add to that the already significant upsurge in the adoption of technology, and it’s no wonder that ecommerce sales rose by 64.1% during those two years.

In just six years between 2015 and 2021, the number of consumers who indicated that they shopped online increased by 15%, a trend that shows no signs of abating. Consequently, it stands to reason that the number of consumers who plan to visit physical stores will decline. Last year, less than half, 43%, intended to do their buying in person.

In recent years, a great deal of online shopping has taken place between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In 2021, buyers spent a whopping $33.9 billion during those lucrative weeks. Although this figure was down slightly from the previous pandemic year of 2020, its 17% increase since 2019 remains impressive.

Areas where spending did increase during 2021 should come as no surprise when you consider the socioeconomic environment we were all living in. At a time when lockdowns were easing and people began to look outward again, it stands to reason that they focused their spending on things like dining out with friends, becoming physically fit, and seeking new sources of entertainment.

They were also looking to show their love in the form of presents, spending roughly 15% of their income on items for friends and family in 2021.

Inflation.

Supply chain difficulties and other factors combined to cause a precipitous rise in prices for the 2021 shopping season. The 6.8-year-over-year percent increase was higher than the inflation rate and may be part of the reason for the decline in ecommerce spending that year.

Even in 2021 before inflation really began to skyrocket, it still cost consumers an estimated $6.2 billion. Therefore, it is no wonder that last year’s buyers made use of the bargain-finding tools available to them. With every dollar becoming precious, almost 10% more buyers began using these mechanisms to save anywhere they could.

Supply chain concerns.

When goods and supplies get held up at any point during their journey from origin to endpoint, the entire ecosystem suffers. Prices rise, supply drops as demand is elevated, and businesses are sometimes forced to close. In the 2021 holiday season alone, the coronavirus-inspired supply chain problems the world experienced cost consumers more than $223 billion.

Because of single-sourcing, manufacturing closures, shipping delays, and many other factors, sellers were unable to obtain the materials and products consumers were demanding last holiday season. As a result, out-of-stock messages ballooned by a jarring 258% in 2021 as compared to the same time period in 2019.

Even so, ecommerce businesses pulled out all the stops to deliver the items they were able to keep in stock. An estimated nine out of 10 packages got to their destinations on time.

Because the supply chain kinks were constantly discussed in the media, consumers were aware that nothing would be normal about the 2021 holiday shopping season. As a direct result, almost half of them started their gift buying earlier in order to minimize the sting.

Competition.

In 2021, large online retailers seemed to plateau in their sales, with giant Amazon only growing by a paltry 0.5% compared to 2020.

Just as consumers began shopping earlier, ecommerce sellers also did their best to get things started ahead of time. In fact, almost 60% launched their holiday marketing well before November.

Cyber Monday continues to be a favorite among shoppers; in 2020, traffic on that day grew 5% year over year. Black Friday traffic went up as well, though only by 2%.

Workforce.

With the number of delivery and logistics personnel down drastically between 2020 and 2021, manufacturers and retailers felt even more pressure and stress during an already difficult time.

What will happen during the 2022 ecommerce holiday shopping season?

Experts estimate that sales will rise by approximately 15.5% as the critical effects of the pandemic continue to subside. Even so, this number may be deceiving. With inflation higher than it has been in four decades, sales figures may be elevated, but the number of actual products sold could fall as consumers have less discretionary income.

Further, while some of the shipping traffic jams have been eased, supply chain woes continue for many of the same reasons that caused them in the first place. To combat them, consumers will most likely continue to shop early, and retailers would do well to multi-source and be as proactive as possible when ordering products and materials.

Although large ecommerce marketers like Amazon stumbled last year, all indications suggest that they will re-establish their former dominance in the online arena.

Because retailers expect that consumers will continue to flock back to online and in-person stores in 2022, they are looking to hire nearly half a million workers to meet the demand. Those looking for jobs in the ecommerce sector can look forward to sign-up bonuses and other incentives designed to woo eager workers this year.

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