Not everything moved online at the same pace.
Some categories are now bought online more often than in stores, while others have barely shifted.
The pattern is predictable once you know what makes a product suited to online selling.
TL;DR
- Electronics and technology have among the highest online penetration, with digital-native categories showing two to four times the penetration of experience-driven ones.
- Media leads, with video games bought online roughly 80% of the time, followed by electronics and office supplies above half.
- Grocery remains a laggard, with food and beverage penetration in the single digits to mid-teens, though it is growing fast.
The category figures here come from U.S. retail data and e-commerce aggregators, and vary by methodology.
ALSO READ: Is E-commerce Actually Killing Physical Stores? Here’s The Data
What has moved online, and what hasn’t
| wdt_ID | wdt_created_by | wdt_created_at | wdt_last_edited_by | wdt_last_edited_at | Category | Approximate online penetration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | Media and video games | very high (up to ~80%) |
| 2 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | Electronics | high (~40 to 56%) |
| 3 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | Apparel and shoes | moderate to high (~30 to 43%) |
| 4 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | Toys and hobby | moderate (~42%) |
| 5 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | Health and beauty | lower (~17%) |
| 6 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 08/08/2026 10:54 PM | Grocery and food | low (single digits to ~16%) |
The consistent split is that digital-native categories like electronics and books show far higher penetration than experience-driven categories like automotive and grocery.
The logic is simple: standardized, easy-to-ship, low-return-risk items with no need to touch or taste them moved online first and deepest.
Why grocery is the last frontier
The stragglers reveal the rule.
Grocery e-commerce penetration remains low largely because of cost-to-serve economics, with tight margins, perishable inventory, and last-mile fulfillment costs that swallow most of the unit economics.
Anything heavy, perishable, cheap per unit, or needing physical inspection resists moving online.
That is why food, building materials, and gas barely register while electronics and apparel surged.
Official U.S. Census data, which measures each store type separately, shows much lower category numbers than aggregator data that counts all online purchases of a category regardless of retailer.
Both are valid; they answer different questions.
The durable takeaway holds across all of them: in mature markets like the U.S., UK, and Canada, media, electronics, and apparel are deeply online, while grocery and big-ticket physical goods remain the growth frontier.
ALSO READ: The 25-Year Rise of E-commerce in America
ELI5
Things that are easy to ship and do not need to be touched first, like gadgets, games, and clothes, sell well online.
Things that are heavy, fresh, or need checking in person, like groceries, are still mostly bought in stores.
Sources
