There are definitely advantages to selling online in 2022

(Even if it is hard to keep up)

Things have gotten back to normal (somewhat) and a lot of us are still at home (tricky, but yay!). Did you start a business in 2020? Did you go back to work but are still maintaining the side gig? I think a lot of us learned that keeping all the eggs in one basket is not the safe approach…and we reallllly know now that are jobs are never a sure thing.

I know, there are not enough hours in the day to keep up the side business, and sometimes it is hard to keep up with scheduling those social media posts. But if the extra work is something you love to do, it is fun (and bankable)!

Ecommerce platforms and shops

So let´s look at how ecommerce is doing, where it´s going, and why it´s important for us online entrepreneurs to keep doing it.

I like facts, so whenever I get some “This Year in Review” e-mail, I really look at what the report says. These stats from Statista in the Shopify report tell us that ecommerce as a whole is going up, up, up.

Ecommerce stats up until 2023 from Shopify

Thought e-commerce was dying out after the pandemic/lockdown? Nope!

Let me spell it out with ALL the zeros:

  • 2018 – US$2,982,000,000,000
  • 2019 – US$3,354,000,000,000
  • 2020 – US$4,280,000,000,000
  • 2021 – US$4,891,000,000,000
  • 2022 – US$5,424,000,000,000
  • 2023 – US$5,908,000,000,000

Yes, the numbers are in the trillions.

Isn´t that a LOT of zeros? 

These numbers are just the millions of people like you and me trying to make money online.

Brazilian and Argentinian e-commerce is very strong with more than 20% growth, as are other countries that I left out of the graph.

The U.S. and Canadian ecommerce markets are growing at almost 15% per year, which means there are a lot of buyers looking online, instead of just retail.

E-commerce statistics - retail sales per country

One advantage of e-commerce is that there is a worldwide market for what you want to sell.

Other advantages of an online business are:

  • Additional revenue stream(s)
  • There are millions of goods or services you can sell
  • You can work on it anywhere, anytime
  • You can be creative, have fun with what you create, and make money doing it
  • You can support a cause and people you love and believe in
  • There are plenty of people who can teach you to be successful
  • You can work at your own pace
  • You can be yourself, there are millions around the world who will love what you offer

Happy selling, and remember…

The best time to start was yesterday, the second best time is now.

 

Chinese proverb

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