Online shopping will account for half of all global retail growth by 2025.

Research by Euromonitor International found that e-commerce will expand by around £1 trillion ($1.4 trillion) in the next four years.

The accelerated shift to digital shopping over the past 12 months has been prompted largely by the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen countries all over the world enforce restrictions on retail and hospitality to help curb the spread of the virus.

According to the market research company, 16 per cent of goods were bought online last year, double that of 2015.

It said that the US, China and Mexico are forecast to achieve the highest absolute value growth between 2020 – 2025 at $386 billion, $361 billion and $77 billion respectively.

“One of the most pronounced impacts from the global pandemic is the expanding influence of tech. Retailers and brands are prioritising tech investments, which range from optimising supply chain operations to improving user experience. Companies in Latin America, for example, have been making bigger digital investments, and the region is forecast to reach the highest growth of retail value of all regions by 2025”, said Michelle Evans, senior head of the digital consumer research, at Euromonitor International. “However, the rapid digital transformation has brought challenges towards traditional business models and physical stores into greater focus, and it is vital to re-evaluate strategy for businesses to stay competitive in the ever-growing digital sphere.”

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