Looking for online business statistics to help grow your business?
We’ve collected 102 online startup facts that span from e-commerce, to lead generating so you can better understand which way your business should be run.
In addition, we’ve uncovered top marketing insights for online businesses backed by data, and other interesting internet business statistics to help entrepreneurs channel their marketing efforts.
- Online business industry stats
- Internet business history stats
- Ecommerce stats
- Online business marketing stats
- Local online business stats
- SaaS business stats
- Dropshipping stats
- Online marketplace stats
- Lead generation stats
- SEO stats
- Social media stats
- Email marketing stats
Online Business Industry Statistics
- The demand for graphic design and videography services has increased 20% (Fiverr)
- 59% of freelancers expect to see an increase in revenue from pre-COVID times (Fiverr)
- 48.7% of online shopping is done by females (Pymnts)
- 80% of companies which attract less than 10,000 visitors to their sites miss yearly revenue goals (Hubspot)
- 50% of U.S. online businesses are home-based (Fundera)
- 69% of startups are home-based (Fundera)
- The fashion industry dominates online revenue every year and makes up 11.4% of all online purchases, (FitSmallBusiness)
- 42% of B2B buyers make purchases with mobile devices. (Think With Google)
- Shoppers who are looking to purchase in the fashion category will view 32 pages before making a purchase. (Statista)
Online Business History Statistics
- Mobile purchases are seeing a decline from 65% in 2019 to 46% in 2020. (Statista)
- Large cap e-commerce stores are expected to grow 50% in 2021. (Statista)
- Online transactions have increased 74% since March 2019. (AP News)
- The US market share for the online retail market is expected to decline to 16.9%. (Statista)
- The first online “business” was launched in 1979. (History of Information)
- The first online marketplace, Book Stacks Unlimited, was launched in 1992. (History of Information)
- Mobile use for online business has increased to more than $1.4 trillion in revenue generated. (Forrester)
- Online sales are up 17.9% YoY and continue to climb. (eMarketer)
E-Commerce Statistics
- Global B2C ecommerce sales are expected to reach $4.5 trillion in 2021. (Shopify)
- Search traffic generates 65% of total ecommerce sessions, while 33% was generated through organic search, and 32% was generated through paid search. (Statista)
- 2.14 billion people worldwide are expected to buy goods and services online (Statista)
- The value of returned ecommerce items by Americans was $205 billion in 2020 (Shopify)
- E-commerce sales are expected to account for 18.1% of retail sales worldwide (Oberlo)
- 1.94% of e-commerce website visits convert into a sale. (Oberlo)
- 69.57% of shopping carts are abandoned. (Oberlo)
- U.S. consumers will spend $933.3 billion online in 2021. (eMarketer)
- 3D product images increase conversions 250% than 2D. (Sleeknote)
Online Business Marketing Statistics
- 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. (Hubspot)
- 77% of companies say they have a content marketing strategy. (Hubspot)
- The most common measurement of success for content marketing programs is Total Sales. (HubSpot)
- 84% of companies have developed a content marketing strategy (SEMRush)
- E-commerce websites that use blogs for content marketing have 126% more leads than sites that don’t (WP Forms)
- Marketers who use blogging as a primary method of marketing see 13x positive ROI than marketers who use other methods. (WP Forms)
- 47% of businesses spend less than $10,000 on marketing (Fundera)
- 76% of B2B companies have a formal marketing plan (Smart Insights)
Local Business with Online Presence Statistics
- 86% of customers look up locations for local businesses on Google Maps. (Junto Digital)
- 72% of local searches will visit a store within 5 miles of their location. (Junto Digital)
- Four or more negative reviews can turn off 70% of your local customer base. (Sagapixel)
- 78% of local mobile searches result in an in-person purchase. (Search Engine Land)
- 50% of local searches generate an in-person lead within 1 day. (Search Engine Land)
- 61% of mobile users are more willing to shop at a local business that has a mobile-friendly website. (Junto Digital)
- 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information. (GoGulf)
- Location-based coupons result in a 9916% increase in mobile revenue. (WordStream)
SaaS Business Statistics
- SaaS businesses account for $145.5 billion in revenue worldwide (Statista)
- Salesforce has the largest market share of SaaS businesses with 9.3% of total sales worldwide (Statista)
- 73% of businesses surveyed said they would be using all or mostly SaaS solutions (BMC)
- Companies use an average of 34 SaaS solutions. (Devsquad)
- SaaS companies that don’t require a credit card to sign up generate 2x more customers (Devsquad)
- 54% of SaaS websites are run on WordPress. (Devsquad)
- Microsoft is the largest SaaS provider with 18% market share. (99 Firms)
- 80% of businesses use at least one SaaS app. (99 Firms)
Dropshipping Statistics
- Dropshipping vendors like Oberlo saw 50,147 products dropshipped in 2021 and increase from just 348 in 2017. (Statista)
- Electronics is the most popular category for dropshipping accounting for 30% of total sales (Grandview Research)
- In 2017 dropshipping accounted for 23% of online sales worldwide. (Torchbankz)
- 27% of online businesses have pivoted to dropshipping. (E-Commerce Platforms)
- 34% of all sales on Amazon are fulfilled by dropshippers. (Torchbankz)
- Manufacturers that offer dropshipping services are 18.33% more profitable that their competitors who don’t. (Shift4Shop)
Online Marketplace Statistics
- Livestream shopping events in the U.S. are expected to generate $25 billion by 2023 (Shopify)
- 70% of Amazon searches do not include a brand name (Shopify)
- 48% of online shoppers will default to using a marketplace rather than standalone website (Oberlo)
- Taobao is the most popular marketplace worldwide with $609 billion in gross merchandise value (Statista)
- Etsy generated over $1.7 billion in revenue in 2020. (Statista)
- eBay generated $10 billion in net revenue in 2020, up from $8.6 billion in 2019. (Statista)
- Amazon will account for 50% of online retail sales in 2021. (Statista)
Lead Generation Statistics
- 55% of leads are generated through word of mouth (WP Forms)
- 45% of businesses use a CRM to track leads (WP Forms)
- New leads cost up to 5x more than nurturing existing customers (Neil Patel)
- 53% of marketers spend more than half their yearly budget on lead generation. (Startup Bonsai)
- Leads that are followed-up with by business in the first 5 minutes convert 9x more than leads which are followed up on a later date. (Ziff Davis)
- 63% of leads take 3 months to convert. (Marketing Donut)
- 79% of leads don’t convert. (Marketing Sherpa)
- Lead nurturing accounts for 50% more sales at 33% lower cost than competitors. (Marketo)
- Only 20% of marketers believe outbound lead gen is worthwhile. (Hubspot)
Search Engine Optimization Stats for Online Business
- Only 2% of brands own their first page search results (Status Labs)
- 46% of Google searches are locally-based (Fundera)
- 59% of B2B marketers think SEO has the biggest impact on lead generation. (Marketing Charts)
- 70% of marketers prefer SEO to PPC for lead gen. (Hubspot)
- 88% of videos that are in YouTube’s top 10 results will also show up on the first page of Google. (Perficient)
- 21% of B2B companies generate the majority of their leads through SEO. (Smart Insights)
- Users will spend 88% more time on websites with videos than without. (WebFX)
Social Media Statistics for Online Businesses
- 94% of marketers use social media for content distribution. (SEMrush)
- 41% of local businesses rely on social media to generate revenue (Fundera)
- Customers who engage with a company’s social media accounts will generate 40% more revenue over time. (Fundera)
- 66% of marketers spend less than six hours a week on social media marketing. (Startup Bonsai)
- 45% of businesses have acquired customers through LinkedIn. (Quicksprout)
- 82% of leads are acquired through Twitter. (Digital Media Stream)
- 62% of B2B companies report a positive ROI from social media ads. (Hubspot)
- 66% of B2B marketers use Facebook ads. (Content Marketing Institute)
- 33% of internet users research products or brands on social media before purchasing. (Fundera)
- 49% of social media users depend on influencer recommendations. (Fundera)
- 98% of marketers rely on Instagram for influencer marketing. (Sprout Social)
- 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business. (Instagram)
- 79% of customers expect a response to social media comments and questions within one day. (Sprout Social)
Email Marketing Statistics
- Email generates $42 for every $1 spent. (Litmus)
- Global email marketing is projected to be valued at $17.9 billion by 2027 (Statista)
- Marketers that segment their email audiences see a 760% increase in revenue over time. (Campaign Monitor)
- 35% of businesses send 3-5 emails per week. (Not Another State of Marketing)
- A/B testing emails results in a 48:1 ROI. (Litmus)
- 90% of marketers believe that email engagement is the top metric to track. (Content Marketing Institute)
- 306 billion emails are sent every day. (Radicati)
- 80% of business professionals prefer email marketing for customer acquisition and retention. (eMarketer)
- 60% of consumers admit to purchasing something that was marketed via email. (Optin Monster)
- 61% of customers appreciate weekly promotional emails. (Marketing Sherpa)
Conclusion
Hopefully this list of online business statistics was useful for deciding how to run your business. Have we missed an interesting stat on this list?
Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Jack Brewer is passionate about all things personal finance, and enjoys testing out new side hustles and investing strategies.
