The global pandemic that hit its peak in 2020 had a huge impact on the way consumers purchase goods, causing massive growth in the e-commerce sector. With more and more people continuing to turn to online shopping, e-commerce stats show that the sector is continuing to see solid gains. By the end of 2021, e-commerce sales hit $870.7 billion, a 14.3% increase from 2020 (oberlo.com). By the end of 2022, e-commerce sales in the U.S. are projected to grow 16.1% to a record $1.06 trillion. (insiderintelligence.com)
Looking for a reason to sell online? E-commerce stats show the industry will hit record sales numbers in 2022.
Let’s talk e-commerce stats. While Amazon recently reported its first losses since 2017, Amazon alone reported sales of $469.8 billion in 2021, up 22% from 2020 (Oberlo.com). Industries such as auto and parts, food and beverage, and beauty and cosmetics are expected to see the most growth, with auto and parts sales seeing the biggest increase at 30.1%. (emarketer.com)
Aside from Amazon, other larger online retail sites experienced growth as well. A survey by Zogby Analytics of people who purchased goods online showed that Walmart was the most popular alternative, with 62.5% of respondents opting to shop their site instead of Amazon. (emarketer.com). The retail giant reported sales of $140 billion in 2021 (litcommerce.com).
Target and eBay were the next two companies listed in the survey results, with around 32% of people saying they chose to shop online at those retailers instead of Amazon (emarketer.com). eBay is one of the top online marketplaces used to buy and sell goods and reported sales of nearly $10 billion in the last three quarters of 2021. eBay offers sellers complete control over their listings and shipping and return policies (litcommerce.com).
Etsy and Wayfair are competitive online marketplaces as well. 15.2% of those surveyed said they had purchased items from Etsy, a popular platform for third-party sellers and 14.4% said they had purchased items from Wayfair (emarketer.com). In 2021, Etsy reported sales of over $532 million with over 885 million users visiting their site every month (litcommerce.com). Zulily, which reported a massive loss in 2019 rebounded somewhat in 2020. There are over 15,000 Zulily sellers serving more than 5 million active customers, according to the platform (Zulily.com).
There has never been a better time to take your business to the next level with online sales. According to Adobe’s Digital Economy Index, online shoppers spent $1.7 trillion during the past two years, ending in February of 2022. So far this year, consumers have spent $138 billion online. E-commerce is arguably the future of retail, with sales on track to exceed $1 trillion in 2022 (retaildive.com).
Use e-commerce factoring to speed up cash flow.
Whether you are just getting your e-commerce startup going or you’ve been selling online for a while, e-commerce invoice factoring is here to help you grow faster. It works by allowing you to factor customer invoices or third-party earnings statements (i.e., Amazon, Zulily, eBay, Rakuten, Wayfair, Walmart, and others) the same day they are generated. Instead of waiting weeks or months to get paid, you can get the money you’ve earned the same day you factor (or within 1-2 business days).
E-commerce factoring is a game-changer. For one thing, e-commerce businesses can start factoring invoices from day one and your credit score is a non-factor, since it’s the credit score of your customer (or third party e-commerce platform) that is evaluated.
Expediting cash flow in your e-commerce business could be the key to taking on bigger orders or replenishing inventories more quickly, so you can increase the volume of sales your company can handle. If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting to get paid while bigger online selling competitors are making gains, invoice factoring can help even the playing field.
You can also leverage the benefits of e-commerce factoring by negotiating cash or quick-pay discounts with your suppliers. These discounts can easily be more than your invoice factoring fee, which is the all-in cost of this e-commerce financing tool.
Check your numbers in our e-commerce invoice factoring calculator below. Compare your estimated factoring fee against the 5-10% many suppliers offer in the way of early-pay discounts as well as the opportunity cost that you pay for waiting weeks or months to get money you’ve earned.
Ready to learn more about the benefits of e-commerce factoring? Enter a few details below and we will get your information out to a top US invoice factoring company for a free, no-obligation quote.
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