This article discusses the growth of cross-border eCommerce in North America., mainly the United States and Canada. This area has witnessed considerable growth in cross-border eCommerce transactions in recent years, owing mostly to the diversification of digital payment methods, worldwide interconnectedness with other international economies, and the COVID pandemic. We zoom in from a worldwide viewpoint to examine subjects such as cross-border eCommerce payments, eCommerce global market value, and 2022 cross-border eCommerce revenues per nation, before focusing on the Northern American market.

Key Messages

• United States, the second largest market for eCommerce behind China, but in front of Japan.
• The United States eCommerce will see slower growth than the global average between 2021 and 2025, a growth of 5%, below the average of 6% for the global rate.
• Canada, a market ahead of Australia, but surprisingly behind Indonesia
• Canada is expected to grow YOY at a rate of 6% between 2021 and 2025, the same rate as the global average of 6%.

A global cross-border eCommerce perspective.

 By 2026, it is anticipated that the cross-border e-commerce business will be worth 2.25 trillion dollars. The cross-border internet purchasing market was worth approximately 579 billion dollars in 2019.

Chart 2. Value of B2B, B2C, C2B and C2C cross-border payments worldwide from 2016 to 2020, with forecasts for 2021 and 2022 (in trillion U.S. dollars), Source: Statista

United States – the second largest market for eCommerce behind China, but in front of Japan

United States eCommerce sales reached in 2021 a record level of 599 billion dollars, making it the second largest eCommerce market after China, but in front of Japan. The market grew by 11% in 2021, making its footprint 15% of the global growth rate.  The United States eCommerce will see slower growth than the global average between 2021 and 2025, a growth of 5%, below the average of 6% for the global rate. The biggest players in the United States are Amazon.com with a revenue of almost 126 billion dollars in 2021, followed by Walmart.com and apple.com with almost 47 billion dollars and almost 26 billion dollars, respectively. Adding up, these 3 stores account for 35%  Statista predicts a 5% growth over the next four years until 2025, compared to the 11% YOY growth between 2020 and 2021.

In January 2021, China was the most popular foreign nation for US internet shoppers. It accounted for roughly half of all cross-border purchases made from the US. The United Kingdom came in second with a 10% market share, while Canada accounted for around 6% of the cross-border e-commerce industry.

Chart 3. Leading countries for cross-border online purchases in the United States in 2021, by market share, Source: Statista

Clothing and apparel were the most popular product category for things purchased from overseas by US internet consumers in February 2021, accounting for 28 percent of respondents. In turn, 15% of digital shoppers in the United States polled utilized cross-border e-commerce to acquire toys or hobby products.

Chart 4. Leading product categories for cross-border online shoppers in United States as of 2021, Source: Statista

Canada – a market ahead of Australia, but surprisingly behind Indonesia

Canada’s eCommerce sales increased by 14% in 2021, lower than the global growth rate of 15%. The market is the 10th largest market for global eCommerce with a revenue of approximately 36 billion dollars in 2021, ahead of Australia, but behind Indonesia.  The development of the market will continue in the next years, mainly pushed by the Asian regions as the middle class is growing and the digital infrastructure is being upgraded.  Canada is expected to grow YOY at a rate of 6% between 2021 and 2025, the same rate as the global average of 6%.

In terms of players, the biggest Canadian eCommerce company is Amazon, with a. revenue of almost 10 billion dollars in 2021, followed by Walmart with almost 4 billion dollars, followed CostCo with almost 2.5 billion dollars. Summed up, these 3 companies account for 43% of the eCommerce market in Camada. A company to look at is Muji, which achieved online net sales of almost 1.5 million dollars in 2021, 290% up from the previous year.  The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is expected to be 6% over the ensuing four years (between 2021–2025 ). This decline in annual growth reflects a modestly crowded market in comparison to the 14% year-over-year increase between 2020 and 2021.

As of January 2021, the United States and China accounted for more than 90 percent of Canada’s cross-border purchases. The United Kingdom was a distant second, accounting for 4% of the cross-border e-commerce industry.

Chart 5. Leading countries for cross-border online purchases in Canada in 2021, by market share, Source: Statista

Lastly, the below graphic displays retail e-commerce income in Canada from 2017 to 2025. Retail e-commerce of physical items earned over 53.77 billion US dollars in sales in 2021, with revenue expected to exceed 90 billion US dollars by 2025.

Chart 6. Retail e-commerce revenue in Canada from 2017 to 2025, Source: Statista

About heyworld.

heyworld GmbH was established in 2019, as a 100% subsidiary of Lufthansa Cargo, specialized in cross-border, eCommerce logistics. heyworld translates airfreight processes and standards into the eCommerce world (ex. conversion of chargeable weight into a parcel level-based pricing scheme). We combine airfreight, eCommerce, and logistics know-how, working with a modular service, from first mile, middle mile (air freight) to end mile. We are well Integrated into Lufthansa handling process, and connected to all service providers and process steps via API integration.

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