Research
15 Marketplace Growth Statistics for 2026
The data points every Amazon and Walmart seller, agency, and operator should know in 2026 — spanning marketplace growth, off-site traffic, the creator economy, and ROAS benchmarks.
$700B+ in projected U.S. e-commerce sales in 2026
U.S. retail e-commerce continues to outpace overall retail, with marketplaces capturing the majority of incremental growth.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Retail E-Commerce
~40% of all U.S. e-commerce flows through Amazon
Amazon remains the dominant U.S. marketplace, making it the single highest-leverage channel for off-site marketing investment.
Source: eMarketer / Insider Intelligence
Walmart Marketplace GMV is growing 25%+ YoY
Walmart.com is the fastest-growing major U.S. marketplace, with third-party sellers driving the majority of new GMV.
Source: Walmart investor disclosures
80%+ of Amazon shoppers research products off Amazon first
Most marketplace purchases begin off-platform — on Google, social, or publisher sites — making off-site traffic essential for new-to-brand growth.
Source: Amazon Ads consumer research
Brands earn a 10% Brand Referral Bonus on attributed off-site sales
Amazon rewards brand owners with a 10% bonus on qualifying sales driven by tagged off-site traffic via Amazon Attribution.
Source: Amazon Brand Referral Bonus program
MaverickX brands average 4.5x ROAS across publisher and creator partnerships
Blended return on ad spend across MaverickX-managed campaigns, with top brands consistently exceeding 6x once optimized.
Source: MaverickX platform data, 2025
New-to-brand share is up to 3x higher from off-site traffic
Publisher and creator placements drive a meaningfully higher share of new-to-brand customers than on-platform ads.
Source: Amazon Attribution benchmarks
$250B+ creator economy globally by 2027
The creator economy is projected to more than double, making creator-led commerce one of the largest growth vectors for marketplace brands.
Source: Goldman Sachs Research
~50% of Gen Z starts product searches on TikTok or Instagram
For younger shoppers, social platforms have replaced search engines as the discovery layer for new products.
Source: Adobe / multiple consumer studies
67% of consumers trust editorial reviews over brand-owned content
Third-party publisher coverage continues to outperform brand-owned messaging for building purchase confidence.
Source: Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising
Sponsored Products account for ~75% of Amazon ad spend
On-platform ad spend is concentrated and increasingly competitive, pushing more brands to invest in off-site traffic for incremental growth.
Source: eMarketer / Skai
Amazon CPCs have risen ~15–25% YoY in many categories
Rising on-platform CPCs make off-site channels with performance-based pricing more attractive for sustainable ROAS.
Source: Marketplace ad benchmarks, 2024–2025
AI-powered search is already 10%+ of product discovery and growing fast
Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews are an emerging traffic source — and one that strongly favors brands with rich third-party content.
Source: Multiple GEO industry reports, 2025
90%+ of high-performing marketplace brands now run off-site traffic
Off-site media is no longer optional. Brands scaling past $10M in marketplace revenue almost universally invest in publisher, creator, or paid off-site traffic.
Source: MaverickX brand survey, 2025
Brands using attributed off-site traffic grow 2–3x faster on Amazon
Sellers running tagged, attributed off-site campaigns consistently outpace category peers in YoY marketplace revenue growth.
Source: MaverickX platform data, 2025
Put these stats to work
MaverickX turns marketplace trends into attributable revenue with a curated publisher and creator network, Google Ads to Amazon, CRO landing pages, and performance-based pricing.
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