The latest report by yStats.com shows both the similarities and differences between the Internet and e-commerce markets in the four Asian Tiger countries.
The “Tiger Countries B2C E-Commerce Report 2013” shows that South Korea and Hong Kong experience high growth rates, especially in mobile online retail, while general B2C e-commerce in Singapore continues to increase by mid to high range double-digit percentages. Only Taiwan is less developed regarding B2C e-commerce, but a low double-digit percentage growth in online retail sales is forecasted here, too.
After double-digit growth rates in recent years, B2C e-commerce sales in South Korea reached more than 10 billion euros. Furthermore, more online purchases were conducted using smartphones than using notebooks in South Korea.
Besides mobile commerce, social commerce was also a growing trend in South Korean online retail. Generally, much money was spent online in the second quarter of 2012, buying travel arrangements and reservations as well as clothing and fashion-related goods.
Leading companies and websites in South Korean B2C e-commerce with regard to the number of unique visitors in 2012 were Gmarket, 11st, Shopping.Naver, Interpark, and Cjmall, all of which are mass merchants.
In 2012, more than half of all Internet users in Hong Kong conducted online purchases, with women shopping online more often than men. M-commerce sales in Hong Kong are expected to increase significantly more between 2011 and 2015 than general B2C e-commerce sales.
The average expenditure per online shopper on mobile phones in Hong Kong reached nearly 600 euros in mid-2012, an increase of more than 40 per cent over the previous year.
Besides m-commerce, group shopping is a major trend in online retail in Hong Kong. Within only two years, approximately 70 daily deal websites were launched there. Attracted by the upward trend of B2C e-commerce, US fashion retailer American Apparel launched an online shop in Hong Kong in 2012.
According to forecasts, B2C e-commerce sales in Singapore will increase by almost 50 per cent between 2011 and 2015.
Travel reservations and entertainment tickets, followed by computer and game software, apparel, accessories, shoes and jewellery were the product categories to be purchased online most often by Internet shoppers in Singapore in February 2012.
Mobile online retail plays an increasingly large role in Singapore, as well. The share of mobile online orders on total online orders increased to almost a quarter in the last few years.
The number of Internet users in Taiwan rises continuously, but more than half of them experienced problems with unstable connections and poor Internet quality in 2012. Slow download and upload speeds represented further difficulties during Internet usage in Taiwan.
The number of mobile Internet users is on the rise as well, but it is used by less than 10 per cent of users to conduct mobile online purchases. However, total online retail sales in Taiwan are projected to increase by a small double-digit percentage figure annually between 2012 and 2015.
Among the leading players in Taiwanese B2C e-commerce are Yahoo! Shopping, Books.com.tw and PCHome Shopping.
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