China ecommerce growth offers insights into e-shopping conditions

The Asian eCommerce Explosion report issued by TNS, a market research company, identifies five triggers that acted together as catalysts for the dramatic changes in consumer behaviour that led to China’s ecommerce growth, and suggests other Asian economies could be on the same trajectory, phnompenhpost.com reports.

The report identifies the first trigger as innovative ecommerce and payments solutions. It notes that “any ecommerce model that combines low barriers to entry for brands and retailers, with competitive pricing and transparency through user reviews has the potential to take off in Asia”.

Asian ecommerce sites have devised various solutions to overcome the region’s lack of access to credit cards and banking solutions, such as a mobile wallet service that enables customers to pay for goods using their mobile phone bills.

The second trigger is cheap labour for low-cost distribution to overcome the limitations of poor logistics infrastructure. For its third trigger, the report highlighted the region’s increasing smartphone penetration and mobile data infrastructure.

Time and convenience are also factors in the report’s fourth trigger, increasing population density. It notes that as urban populations swell, young couples are seeking practical shopping solutions as they spend more time in the office. The fifth trigger sees potential in the Asian proclivity to visit local markets daily to pick up a few items rather than weekly or monthly bulk-buy shopping.