Supply Chains and Transportation

E-Commerce revenue to shrink for the first time ever

Person using card to purchase something online.

Supply chain issues and inflation have hit the sector.

Image: Unsplash/rupixen.com

  • E-commerce revenues are forecast to shrink for the first time ever, according to the latest forecast from Statista Digital Market Outlook.
  • Supply chain issues are the largest single weakening factor, with inflation also playing a significant part in the downward revision.
  • The widely expected global recession and subsequent increases in unemployment leave the e-commerce sector with significant hurdles to overcome.

In what would be the first time ever, e-commerce revenues are forecast to shrink y-o-y in 2022. That's according to the latest forecast from the Statista Digital Market Outlook.

As covered in the newly released second chapter of Statista's Digital Economy Compass, 'From frenzy to fall: is eCommerce back to normal?': "This always has to be seen in perspective, and many industry experts contest the comparison of today's growth figures with pre-Covid-19 data. Nevertheless, the market is now compelled to tackle substantial questions about how to go forward. Even if there is a lot of headwind at the moment, we still believe online shares will eventually increase and revenue growth will get back on track."

Still, the expected negative growth is to be taken in the context of the previous forecast for 2022, which projected $481 billion more revenue by the end of the year. Supply chain issues is the largest single weakening factor, with inflation also playing a significant part in the downwards revision. The widely expected global recession and subsequent increases in unemployment leave the e-commerce sector significant hurdles to overcome before it can finally get back on track.

Bar chart showing E-Commerce revenue to shrink for the first time.
Supply chain issues is the largest single weakening factor. Image: Statista.
Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing about digital trade?

Accept our marketing cookies to access this content.

These cookies are currently disabled in your browser.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Share:
World Economic Forum logo

Forum Stories newsletter

Bringing you weekly curated insights and analysis on the global issues that matter.