The e-commerce business is booming, and it’s not stopping anytime soon.
U.S. e-commerce sales are expected to hit $1.8 trillion by 2030, making up 29 percent of all retail sales, according to a recent report from research and consulting firm Forrester.
If sales figures hit their projections, the U.S online shopping market will have more than doubled its market share, and increased its sales by more than 400 percent, since 2015.
Driving the growth will be tech-reliant Gen Z consumers entering the workforce, earning more money and spending it online, Forrester noted. Improvements in logistics – the movement of materials and goods through supply chains – will also boost e-commerce efficiency and lead to better sales figures.
U.S. consumers spent an estimated $1.5 trillion via online shopping in 2025, according to retail experts Digital Commerce 360.
By comparison, e-commerce sales generated $4.5 billion in the final three months of 1999. Since then, the industry has seen tremendous growth. It took 18 years for sales to pass $100 billion in a single three-month period, but then just seven years to pass $300 billion, according to the Census Bureau. Amazon has the biggest share of online retail, capturing 35.7 percent of sales in 2025, according to e-commerce intelligence firm Marketplace Pulse.
Gen Z has played an important role over the past few years in the social media side of e-commerce. Some 44 percent of Gen Z shoppers have bought something directly from a social media platform, according to data firm Numerator. TikTok and Facebook account for 38 percent of all social media purchases among Gen Z.
Walmart, Amazon and Target are the three favorite retailers of Gen Z shoppers. Target’s share of Gen Z retail dollars was twice the share of the national average, Numerator noted.
“Gen Z is redefining what it means to be a digital consumer,” shipper DHL wrote in an analysis of the generation’s retail behavior. “From fashion and beauty to wellness and entertainment, this generation is highly engaged – and ready to spend – especially when products reflect their personal values or help them express their identity.”
On the logistics side, one of the biggest trends that has helped make business more efficient is the emergence of drop-shipping, AI software engineering and consultancy TechBlocks noted.
Drop-shipping allows online retailers to ship directly from manufacturers and warehouses, easing the need for and cost of inventory acquisition and management, and delivery.
Sites like Shopify and Squarespace add to the e-commerce world are an easy way for individuals to set up an online shop and sell their products. Shopify has become so popular, in fact, that it had a 14 percent e-commerce market share in 2025, according to Marketplace Pulse.
