Asia to account for more than half global eCommerce

The Asia-Pacific online shopping boom is driving global eCommerce growth with the region about to account for an outright majority of the world market.

Research house eMarketer says retail eCommerce sales in Asia-Pacific will hit US$877.61 billion in 2015 – up 35.7 per cent on 2014.

“For the first time, the region will not only have the largest digital retail market in the world, but its share of global digital retail spend will also reach 52.5 per cent – the first time it holds an outright majority of the world market,” eMarketer reports.

This rapid growth from Asia-Pacific predicted in eMarketer’s latest forecast for retail sales around the world is in part driven by the rising middle classes in China, India and Indonesia, and the increasing popularity of mobile devices, which is driving more and more people online throughout the region.

Digital retail sales in Asia-Pacific are also growing faster than any other region, and more than 10 percentage points faster than the worldwide average rate. China, India and Indonesia are the main drivers of growth in the region, with the latter two markets enjoying growth of 129.5 per cent and 65.6 per cent, respectively, in 2015.

China alone will account for over 40 per cent of the world’s retail eCommerce sales this year, up nearly five percentage points from 2014. China will continue to gain share of the worldwide market, exceeding 50 per cent in 2018 and reaching 55.1 per cent by 2019, the end of eMarketer’s forecast period. Ecommerce is the primary driver of overall retail sales growth in the country.

“This rapid growth in Asia-Pacific coupled with faster internet service and greater mobile uptake, is heating up the competitive landscape where large local players are increasingly vying for market share by improving their logistics and mobile platforms, and in some cases moving entirely to an app-only service,” said Monica Peart, eMarketer’s director of forecasting.

Asia-Pacific also outperforms the rest of the world in terms of the share of its total retail market transacted online. Retail eCommerce now accounts for 10.2 per cent of all retail sales in Asia-Pacific and is projected to rise to 20.4 per cent of the total by 2019. That compares to 7.4 per cent on average worldwide this year, and a projected 12.8 per cent in 2019.

eMarketer forecasts that overall retail sales in Asia-Pacific will reach $8.57 trillion this year. The region’s retail market will continue to expand and is projected to hit $11.460 trillion by 2019, representing 20.4 per cent of worldwide retail sales.

Source: insideretail.com