Chinese e-commerce market to reach $3 trillion by 2024: GlobalData

The pandemic has led to a slump in the overall consumer spending, but it has also resulted in the growth of e-commerce purchases, according to GlobalData’s E-Commerce Analytics.

“Chinese e-commerce evolved rapidly over the last five years, supported by high internet and smartphone penetration, increasing consumer confidence in online shopping, the emergence of e-commerce platforms, and the availability of alternative payment solutions such as Alipay and WeChat Pay. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated this trend as consumers are increasingly using online channels for their purchases,” said Nikhil Reddy, banking and payments analyst at GlobalData.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, while the total retail sales of consumer goods in the country declined by 3.9 per cent in 2020, online retail sales of physical goods increased by 14.8 per cent during the same period.

Alternative payment solutions such as Alipay and WeChat Pay are the most popular payment methods for online transactions in China and collectively account for over half of total e-commerce sales in the country. They have also introduced new payment models such as ‘buy now pay later’.

“Chinese e-commerce market has been on the rise during the last five years. The uptrend is likely to continue over the next few years driven by the growing consumer preference, and the emergence of new online payment methods,” added Reddy.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)