E-commerce transactions poised to hit US$8 trillion by 2027: report

E-commerce transactions are predicted to reach US$8 trillion by 2027 driven by emerging markets, according to a new Juniper Research report.

As e-commerce continues to outperform brick-and-mortar retail, new and evolving payment systems will enable much greater access to the e-commerce landscape; creating significant vendor opportunities, the Juniper report noted.

The study from Juniper Research illustrates how today’s US$5.3 trillion e-commerce market will continue to expand rapidly; driven by increased usage in developed markets, and significant adoption in emerging markets.

With an increasing variety of payment options available to customers, the Juniper report noted that e-commerce vendors must offer the most attractive payment methods for their customers.

Given the cost and complexity of integrating a large number of payment options, merchants must strategically select which payment methods best support their objectives, such as BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later), to increase average order value.

Cara Malone, research author said, “E-commerce providers must understand their customer bases to a greater extent; offering the payment options customers want and removing undesirable options.

“In practice, this means working with e-commerce payment platforms that do not only understand and support the most common payment types in each country, but also recognise how these vary by vertical and target demographic. Understanding this can substantially improve the payments experience.”

The report urged e-commerce payment vendors to offer dashboards and data visualisations to their smaller SME customers.

At present, SMEs lack access to good customer analytics, and this data could highlight consumer purchasing behaviours, as well as providing insights into payment method popularity and fraud.

By offering additional services to SMEs, e-commerce payment vendors can differentiate their portfolios in an increasingly competitive and commoditised market.