More than $1 trillion in online purchases were made in 2022, the first time the $1 trillion figure has been eclipsed in a single year, according to a new Comscore report.
The 2022 figure for Comscore’s Digital Commerce Measurement, which includes all online (smartphone and computer) retail spending except for travel, was a 21% increase over the previous year.
In the fourth quarter – which had the largest spending total of the year thanks in no small part to the holiday shopping season — dollars spent on mobile devices in the U.S. also grew at a higher rate than on desktop devices, 26% compared to 14%, with mobile’s share of total digital commerce reaching nearly 40%.
Among the report’s other findings:
- Online retail spending during the 2022 holiday season (November and December) broke $230 billion and grew by 20% compared to the previous year.
- Online grocery and apparel were the top spending categories, with $219 billion spent on grocery, baby and pet items, $175 billion on apparel and accessories, and $117 billion on computers and peripherals.
- The top growing digital commerce categories compared to the previous year were event tickets (75%), digital content (60%) and apparel and accessories (37%).
5G and advances in ecommerce sites are making it easier than ever to shop online.
“At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, digital commerce was at $705.4 billion. A year later, it hit $904.3 billion, and this year we’re over $1 trillion,” Ian Essling, Comscore senior director of survey insights, said in a prepared statement about the online purchases report. “That level of growth previously took four years to achieve. Consumers are clearly doubling down on what works best for them–seamless, convenient, online purchasing across many different verticals and product types.”
