China’s Online Retail Continues to Defy Expectations
- By CDOTrends editors
- November 19, 2018
USD 1 trillion -- it is the amount Forrester forecasted China would reach in terms of online retail sales in 2019. But now the country is expected to reach the benchmark a year earlier in 2018.
The key drivers are fashion and groceries categories. Together they are shaping the online retail market that experienced a rise in the number of shopping and grocery startups taking advantage of China's lovefest for e-commerce.
Based on this new rate of growth, Forrester expects the number of online buyers in China to reach 631 million by 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6 percent.
China will continue to dominate the online retail market in the Asia Pacific, as one can see from the chart. It already accounts for nearly 83 percent of regional online retail sales. It will be followed by Japan and South Korea are the other leading markets but are trailing far behind. By 2022, Forrester expects that one-fourth of all retail sales in the region to occur online.
In terms of online retail penetration, China and South Korea are expected to lead, with over 31 percent of retail sales occurring online by 2022 in these countries.
Separately, Forrester sees the Indian online retail market showcasing to show its own dominance in online retail. It is expected to overtake the Australian online retail market in 2019.