E-commerce seen as fastest growing channel for consumer goods sales by 2020

Sales of consumer goods via e-commerce are set to grow rapidly to account for 7.2 percent of global sales by 2020 due to increased Internet penetration from Africa and Asia, according to a latest study.

Hypermarkets and supermarkets are still the biggest sales channel by sales value but e-commerce, discounters and cash-and-carry are quickly rising, the study said.

Up to 15.3 percent of fast-moving consumer goods will be sold via emerging channels including e-commerce by 2020, while discounters and cash and carry will contribute 7.2 percent and sales through convenience stores will take up 5.8 percent, said Kantar Worldpanel's report “Winning Omnichannel: Finding growth in reinvented retail”.

It predicts spending in supermarkets and hypermarkets to fall to 48.4 percent in 2020 from 50.8 percent in 2015.

E-commerce continues to be strong in Asia, where it grabbed a 7.3 percent market share last year amid popularity of smartphones and prevalence of online payment services.