China B2C eCommerce market is growing fast like a bullet train: Latest research forecasts that the B2C eCommerce Market in China to grow at a CAGR of 30.62% during the period 2016-2020.
The sheer consumption potential of China has resulted in the country gaining the interest of retailers all around the globe. While traditional retailing still matters in the country, eCommerce on the other hand has gained considerable traction in the past few years. Within the eCommerce space, the B2C space in particular has been the interest of global heavyweights such as Amazon and Alibaba, which are active in multiple verticals in the online retailing space.
An emerging trend sweeping the market is the rapid growth of mobile commerce. The use of smartphones has been on the rise in China, reaching more than 50% of total mobile phone users in 2015. Online sales made via mobile devices were valued at $60.54 billion in 2015, an annual growth of over 100% from 2014. In 2015, China had 590 million mobile Internet users. Of this, 270 million used mobile Internet for online shopping. With the popularity of shopping through mobile devices growing, retail sales through these devices are likely to grow further over the next five years. Most of the orders placed via smartphones were for mobile devices, apparel, pen drives, memory cards, jewelry, and footwear.
According to the report, a key growth driver in this market is the facility of free shipping and hassle-free returns offered by online vendors. Free shipping has become the standard for many online retailers in China. These retailers are also offering hassle-free return policies to attract customers. Approximately 90% of online retailers in China offer free shipping and in-store pickup. Retailers like Alibaba, Tmall, JD.com, Dangdang, Suning offer free shipping on all orders during holiday seasons.
Further, the report states that a major challenge faced by retailers in this market is the slow pace of growth in payment options. Most consumers prefer mobile wallet as a payment method.
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