Insight: US E-Commerce Logistics Market Report 2024

Due to the unrelenting growth of online shopping and the unquenchable need for faster and more convenient delivery, e-commerce logistics operations in the United States are experiencing rapid growth.

The U.S. e-commerce market is expected to grow significantly over the next five years, with estimates indicating growth of approximately $388.4 billion, or 51.28%, annually. In light of this, Parcel Monitor’s US E-commerce Logistics Market 2024 report provides an in-depth analysis of the latest trends, challenges and opportunities impacting this dynamic market.

Highlights of the report include:

Overview of the US e-commerce landscape

According to Statista, the number of e-commerce users in the US is projected to grow from 254 million in 2023 to over 316 million in 2028, with the market expected to reach a new milestone of 1.1 trillion by 2029 dollars. Given the significant growth in both user engagement and revenue, the first part of the report examines the U.S. e-commerce market in detail, providing insightful information on overarching trends, including the rise of mobile commerce (m-commerce), a higher percentage of men shopping online and the importance of clothing and accessories as the most important product categories.

Delivery performance metrics of leading U.S. carriers

In the ever-changing field of logistics, where the efficient transportation of products is critical to the success of supply chains, it is important to understand and leverage the importance of key carrier metrics. That’s why this section of the report provides comprehensive delivery execution data, including average domestic transit times, first-attempt delivery success rates, release rates, and on-time delivery rates for leading U.S. logistics carriers.

With carriers achieving an average domestic transit time of just 2.26 days, a remarkable 37.3% increase over 2022, the U.S. logistics market ended 2023 on an overall positive note. This increased efficiency and quality of service can be attributed to leading logistics carriers such as FedEx, UPS, USPS and others.

For example, UPS distinguished itself from its competitors in 2023 with the lowest average domestic transit time of 2.35 days and the highest on-time delivery percentage of 98.5% among the top five U.S.-based logistics carriers. Similarly, OnTrac recorded an average domestic transit time of 1.44 days in 2023, highlighting its fast delivery performance.

Consumer preferences among US buyers

Without customers, the U.S. economy – which is currently the largest in the world in terms of nominal GDP – would not be where it is today. American consumers have proven to be incredibly resilient and willing to spend, even in challenging situations such as the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and higher inflation. In fact, customer preferences change all the time in the ever-changing world of e-commerce, making it difficult for companies to satisfy customers.

In this ever-changing environment, research shows that 72.14% of online shopping carts are abandoned before the purchase is completed, making cart abandonment a major obstacle for US e-commerce companies. That being said, American customers place a high value on transparency because it builds trust and directly addresses the concerns of the 68% of American shoppers who abandon carts due to excessive shipping costs.

Additionally, it is critical for e-commerce companies to streamline the checkout process and provide choices at checkout for guests to address security and privacy concerns of 22% of respondents. Additionally, considering that over 24% of US customers abandoned their carts because they couldn’t find their preferred payment method, it’s equally important to offer a variety of secure payment methods.

To read the full analysis, download the free report here.