With 193 million digital consumers, China is already the world’s largest e-commerce market by participants.
By comparison, the US has a more modest 170 million.
A research report just released by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which has been studying internet usage patterns since 1998, predicts China will add nearly 200 million internet users annually for the next three years. At that point, with 700 million-plus users, China’s online community will be double the size of Japan and the US added together.
BCG predicts China’s online transactions will triple by 2015, reaching US$360 billion, accounting for eight per cent of total retail sales – compared with five per cent in 2011. China will then have the largest e-commerce market in the world by value.
Chinese internet users spend 3.6 hours a day on average online – one hour more than Americans – creating huge potential for sellers and marketers online.
More importantly, the internet seems to be even more integrated in people’s lives in China than in the West, reports BCG. Chinese internet users are far more active than their American counterparts in instant messaging and electronic purchases of books and music. Moreover, the growth in online activity is particularly steep (22 per cent annually) in the age group of 51 plus.
The level of internet penetration is also indicated by respondents’ choice of information sources. Half of the respondents reported in the BCG research report make internet the number one source of information. The figure is even higher (70 per cent) among young professionals and university students.
Yvonne Zhou Yuan, a spokesperson of the BCG, said Chinese consumers have opened their wallets and pocketbooks online.
“Online buying and selling, including group buying, has been the second fast-growing activity on the internet after micro-blogging in China.”
The retail industry in China is adapting to changes in consumer preference in favor of digital purchases. This means a delicate balancing point between the traditional street shops and new internet portals. But retail online has been given high priority by many major companies in the past few years.
The leading home appliance retailer Suning made the step into online three years ago. Chairman Zhang Jindong says the shift of focus led to an extension of the product range: from home appliances to books, jewellery, clothing and groceries. He adds that other major companies may be less active in developing e-marketing strategies, fearing the impact on their street shops.
Said Zhang: “To go online is not our choice but the customers’ choice. Our goal is to build Suning into China’s Walmart plus Amazon.”
GB
