The retail industry is one of the key contributors to the global economic machine with millions of enterprises offering goods and services, and billions of consumers purchasing them. Transactions take place through various channels of distribution across an ever-growing range of industries, such as food,
, and electronics. While physical or in-store retail is the
in this market, forms of non-store retailing are becoming increasingly popular too.
channels are carving out a share of the retail sector in many global markets.
The world’s leading retail markets
The United States is home to the
top three retail companies of the world, namely Walmart, Amazon, and Costco. In 2023, the
total retail market of the United States reached a revenue of over seven trillion U.S. dollars. Another giant market in the consumer goods and retail industry,
China's retail revenue was 15.42 trillion yuan, or over two trillion U.S. dollars in 2022. Looking at other countries with booming retail markets,
India’s retail sales was estimated to reach 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. The country’s
retail industry is dominated by the unorganized or the informal sector, which is defined as businesses held by own account workers, i.e., self-employed individuals or household members assisting them. In Europe, the United Kingdom and Germany are two of the leading retail markets. In 2023,
retail sales in Great Britain amounted to 510 billion British pounds, while
Germany recorded retail sales worth 650 billion euros in the same year.
AI is coming for retail
The retail industry has successfully leveraged technology across various domains including store and warehouse operations, customer experience, and in more recent years, consumer analytics. Today, further deployment of technology is a top priority for retail executives worldwide. In the U.S., for more than half of retailers, personalized customer experience and inventory visibility were the
leading two technology areas to improve. The retail industry has also seen a growing interest in emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI). Many retail executives are actively exploring
ways to harness the power of AI within their operations as AI breaks into industries beyond technology. The AI momentum in retail is here to stay, with the
value of investment into AI-centric systems reaching the second highest levels for retail industries after finance and banking as of January 2024.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no
liability for the information given being complete or correct.
Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date
data than referenced in the text.
