Internet & Mail-Order Retail Industry Profile

Companies in this industry sell products directly to consumers via the internet, TV, or mail order. Major companies include Amazon, eBay, HSN, QVC, and Wayfair (all based in the US), as well as Flipkart (India), Otto Group (Germany), Rakuten (Japan), Taobao (China), and The Very Group (based in the UK).

Globally, retail e-commerce sales amounted to about $6 trillion in 2024 and is forecast to reach about $8 trillion by 2027, according to Statista. Growth is driven in large part by rapidly expanding online and mobile user bases in emerging markets, increases in mobile commerce sales, and the push into new international markets by major brands.

The internet and mail-order retail industry in the US includes about 40,000 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $520 billion. Over the past decade, the bulk of the industry's revenue has shifted from catalog to internet sales. While most brick-and-mortar retailers have an online presence and many also offer catalog sales, this profile focuses on retailers who use the internet or catalogs as their sole or primary sales channel.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

US e-commerce sales grew to $1.1 trillion in 2023, according to Digital Commerce 360. Lessons learned by retailers and changes to consumer shopping habits during the pandemic are likely to further accelerate ecommerce growth versus relative to overall retail spending.

Amazon continues to grow its US sales by above ...