E-Commerce Across Asia: Trends and Developments 2014

The rapid spread of internet access to more than 30% of world’s population after introduction of first mail order catalog, made the rise of e-commerce has forever revolutionized the way goods and servicer’s are bought, sold, researched and marketed globally.

 This year, for first time since business to consumer’s e-commerce sales broke the US $1 trillion mark in 2012,the Asia pacific region will become the largest regional e-commerce market in the world. Currently china, India and Indonesia lead the growth of e-commerce across Asia pacific. According to eMarketer’s latest forecasts, worldwide business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce sales will increase by 20.1% this year to reach $1.5 trillion. Growth will come primarily from the rapidly expanding online and mobile user bases in emerging markets, increases in ecommerce sales, advancing shipping and payment options, and the push into new international markets by major brands. 

Identifying markets in the Asia – Pacific region with the greatest potential for investment in online retail requires an analysis of various economic and development indicators alongside the country specific rules and regulations that govern foreign investment in ecommerce.

According to the international telecommunication union more than 31 percent of individuals and 32 percent of households in the Asia pacific region had Internet access in 2013. While these penetration rates may appear low in comparison to Europe and the America, the Asia pacific region’s sizeable population means the total number of individual actively using the Internet last year. The Americas and Europe combined (1.05 billion) by a significant margin. This number is especially impressive when viewed in the context of penetration growth—the region recorded 344 million Internet users in 2005, and more than 999 million just six years later

This year, for the first time, consumers in Asia-Pacific will spend more on ecommerce purchases than those in North America, making it the largest regional ecommerce market in the world. This year alone, B2C ecommerce sales are expected to reach $525.2 billion in the region, compared with $482.6 billion in North America.

China will take in more than six of every 10 dollars spent on ecommerce in Asia-Pacific this year and nearly three-quarters of regional spending by 2017. The country’s ecommerce market is second only to the US, but this is not expected to last much longer. Beginning in 2016, China will overtake the US in spending. Massive gains in China, as well as in India and Indonesia, will push Asia-Pacific’s growth ahead.

These countries, along with Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Italy and Canada, will drive ecommerce sales growth worldwide. Ecommerce markets in other countries included in eMarketer’s forecast are nearing maturity.

The strength of sales in emerging markets is largely due to their large populations coming online and buying there for the first time. Asia-Pacific will claim more than 46% of digital buyers worldwide in 2014, though these users will only account for 16.9% of the region’s population. Penetration will also be low in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. For now, North America and Western Europe are the only regions where a majority of residents will make purchases via digital channels.

eMarketer bases all of our forecasts on a multipronged approach that focuses on both worldwide and local trends in the economy, technology and population, along with company-, product-, country- and demographic-specific trends, and trends in specific consumer behaviors. We analyze quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of research firms, government agencies, media outlets and company reports, weighting each piece of information based on methodology and soundness.

In addition, every element of each eMarketer forecast fits within the larger matrix of all our forecasts, with the same assumptions and general framework used to project figures in a wide variety of areas. Regular re-evaluation of each forecast means those assumptions and framework are constantly updated to reflect new market developments and other trends.

Six out of every 10 dollars spent online in Asia come from China.

43% of the surveyed global internet users looked up better prices or product reviews on their smartphones while product shopping. In China, 74% of the surveyed internet users did the same, as did 62% in India and 58% in Singapore.

37% of Asia-Pacific respondents said they were more likely to purchase goods and services through mobile devices, which is higher than the global average of 26%.