From millions to billions to trillions - online retailing grows

Market Research Company Euromonitor International released new data on the global retailing industry on Friday, 7 November 2014, showing a steady growth of 5.3% in 2014 due to improved performance in Western Europe.

"Western Europe registered its biggest increase since 2008, while Eastern Europe experienced its biggest slowdown with 6% growth due to the conflict in Ukraine and economic sanctions on Russia," said Daniel Latev, Head of Retailing at Euromonitor International.

Key findings

Starting in 2014 through to 2019, a third of new global retail sales will come from China.
Nigeria is expected to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.9% to 2019, due to a growing middleclass and an overall increase in disposable income.
In the last year, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa were the most dynamic regions, with increases of over 12% in retail sales.
Apparel and footwear are reported to be the most popular products sold online and are expected to generate over US$360 billion. Food and beverages are expected to be the most dynamic with 18.2% CAGR by 2019.
Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Seven and I remain the top global three retailers, while Tesco lost its fourth place market share to Schwarz Beteiligungs.
Amazon and Alibaba are the only online retailers in the top 15 global retail rankings.

Online retailing is set to generate a third of all new retail sales, driven by strong growth in both emerging and developed markets. Mobile internet retailing will account for 32% of internet retailing sales compared to 18% in 2014. Euromonitor International forecasts internet retailing to increase by 15% CAGR to reach US $1.7 trillion by 2019, making multichannel operations key for all retailers looking for growth.