China going on the heights of retail wind with a downing wave to US - report

China will also remain the world’s largest retail ecommerce market, with sales expected to top USD 899.09 billion in 2016, representing almost half (47.0%) of digital retail sales worldwide. With China having one of the most developed ecommerce markets in the world, eMarketer expects purchases made digitally will represent a globe-topping 18.4% of the country’s total retail sales in 2016.

China will continue to see massive gains in retail ecommerce over the next few years, with sales topping USD 2.416 trillion in 2020. Spending via mobile is also booming and this year will account for 55.5% of all ecommerce sales and reach 68% by 2020.

China’s ecommerce market can be attributed in part to the proliferation of the dominant domestic marketplaces such as Alibaba, Tmall and JD.com, which took advantage of the country’s undeveloped traditional retail infrastructure. eMarketer forecasting director Monica Peart commented, “Alibaba, Tmall and JD.com positioned themselves well to capitalize on growing consumer demand by creating their own payment systems (e.g., Alibaba’s Alipay) and logistical services (e.g., JD.com operates a self-owned logistics network), according to the eMarketer report.

Asia-Pacific as a whole remains the world’s largest retail ecommerce market, with sales expected to top USD 1 trillion in 2016 and more than double to USD 2.725 trillion by 2020. According to eMarketer’s forecast, the region will also see the fastest rise in retail ecommerce sales, climbing 31.5% in 2016. Expanding middle classes, greater mobile and internet penetration, growing competition of ecommerce players and improving logistics and infrastructure will all help to fuel ecommerce growth in the region.

Asia-Pacific will continue to lead all regions in total retail sales with USD 8.997 trillion in 2016, accounting for 40.8% of the global total. Burgeoning consumer economies in China, India and Indonesia will drive retail sales over the next four years as disposable incomes in those countries continue to rise.