Pandemic e-commerce boom here to stay – Axios

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
The e-commerce boom, driven largely by internet shopping that can take place with the click of a phone, has become increasingly local, new data shows.
Why it matters: Commercial success online is less dependent on geographic location than ever before.
Driving the news: Stripe, the digital payment processing company, on Monday released a report documenting the dramatic expansion of the internet economy over the past five years.
What they're saying: "We're seeing a lot of growth in the e-commerce economy," Emily Glassberg Sands, head of information for Stripe, tells Axios. "But the biggest step function change has been traditionally offline businesses lighting up online."
Zoom in: The Stripe report noted that the rise of internet commerce has been most pronounced in "non-traditional tech centers."
The intrigue: Rural areas are witnessing growth, too. In the country’s five least populous counties, there is now one Stripe business for every 36 people.
What's next: Morgan Stanley forecasts that the e-commerce boom is likely to continue.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct that the amount paid via transactions on Stripe — rather than online transactions — increased by 40 times over the past five years in Columbus, Ohio.

source