With women making up half of the global population, there’s no question that their online shopping activities play a big role in rising global ecommerce sales

But what do women buy online? Unless your ecommerce store caters solely to the male gender, this is one statistic you need to pay attention to.

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What do women buy online the most: top three categories

According to a recent survey looking at women’s online shopping habits, products in the clothing and shoes category top the list of items they purchase online. Half (50%) of all female shoppers worldwide say they buy these products over the internet. In comparison, 41% of men say they buy clothing and shoes online.

Incidentally, fashion is also among the top online shopping categories in the world, and is set to generate almost $1 trillion in revenue in 2023. If the United States is your main target market, you’d also be interested to know that a higher percentage of women (59%) there say they purchase clothing and shoes online. 

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Beauty rank next, with 38% of women worldwide listing it as a category whose products they purchase online. This is seven percentage points lower than the 45% of women in the US saying they buy clothing and shoes online. According to a list of the top beauty products, personal care and skin care are the two of the most-bought items in the category. With the global beauty industry market size growing year after year, it’s certainly one line of products brands operating in adjacent sectors can think about branching into. Entertainment rounds out the top three products women buy online the most, with 27%.

What do women buy online the most: pharmaceutical products, electronics, and other top categories

Pharmaceutical products, groceries, and products related to electronics and children are also popular items female shoppers buy online, with between 22% and 25% of them doing so for all of these categories.

Items pertaining to leisure, sport, and hobby also rank among the top items women buy online. More than one in five (21%) of them say they purchase these products on the internet.

Jewelry and accessories and home and garden rank next, with 18%. Automobile parts and accessories is the product category women shop for online the least, with just 13% of them doing so.

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