Industry research

Retail & E-Commerce market research

Size retail around the shopper, merchant, channel, and transaction value retained. Gross merchandise value, retail sales, and platform revenue require separate treatment.

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Retail shop owner arranging consumer products for customers
Shopper activity becomes retail demand through a category and channel definition.

Market definition

Set the boundary before comparing.

Online reach does not equal online spending, and marketplace transaction value is not platform revenue. Keep shopper, merchant, and platform measures distinct.

  1. 01Retail category

    Units, transactions, or sales value

    Set product taxonomy, grocery or non-food, price tier, and store or online format.

  2. 02E-commerce

    Buyers, orders, GMV, or net sales

    Define direct-to-consumer, marketplace, social commerce, and delivery channel.

  3. 03Retailer economics

    Revenue, gross margin, basket, or store productivity

    Clarify returns, discounts, taxes, third-party sales, and loyalty effects.

  4. 04Fulfilment and delivery

    Orders, parcels, delivery zones, or cost per order

    Separate store picking, warehouse fulfilment, last mile, and collection.

Decision context

What shapes the opportunity?

Use these lenses to build a market view around the decision, customer, and time horizon that matter to you.

  1. 01

    Channel mix

    Compare online and store sales, marketplace participation, click and collect, and return behavior.

  2. 02

    Basket and conversion

    Track visits, conversion, average order value, repeat purchasing, and category attachment.

  3. 03

    Margin after fulfilment

    Include discounts, payment, picking, delivery, returns, and marketplace fees in channel economics.

Research options

Find the right research scope.

Set the market, geography, and evidence needed for your decision. Our team can help define a custom research scope.

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Buyer questions

Questions worth resolving.

Use these checks to test whether a report answers your decision or needs a narrower research brief.

  1. 01

    Does the total measure GMV or sales?

    Identify whether the marketplace includes third-party transaction value or only its own recognized fees and sales.

  2. 02

    Who is the online buyer?

    Check age range, purchase period, goods versus services, domestic or cross-border purchases, and survey population.

  3. 03

    Can growth be served profitably?

    Compare basket size and repeat rate with fulfilment density, returns, service levels, and acquisition cost.

Definitions and evidence

Check what the measures represent.

An online order can count as e-commerce even when payment happens offline. Match the seller population, channel definition, returns, and sales basis before comparing retail sales with marketplace transaction value.

US retail definitions do not establish worldwide marketplace revenue or household spending. Retailer sales, marketplace gross merchandise value, commissions, delivery income, and consumer expenditure are separate measures.

Reference sources checked .

Related analysis

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Know the shopper and channel.

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