China's online shopping growth rates may be slowing down, but it is still growing at astronomical rates. (China Internet Watch)
Online shopping in China is making waves as it achieved a new milestone—tremendous growth helped e-commerce achieve 10.1 percent of total retail transactions in the country in Q2 this year. Using data from Chinese market research firm iResearch, China internet business news site China Internet Watch reported that total transactions from China’s online shopping market reached 628.76 billion yuan (US$101.58 billion). This includes a combination of business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions. This is the first time online shopping has crossed the 10 percent threshold of total transactions, and the rate is expected to rise in the coming years.
China’s online shopping economy is slowing with the country’s overall GDP growth, but it is still growing year-on-year at incredible rates. Online retail grew by 47.1 percent in Q2 of 2014 from the previous year—a step down from 64.1 percent for the same period last year. China’s online retail market is expected to grow by 45.8 percent overall this year for 10.4 percent of all retail purchases in the country. The growth is expected to slow to an 18.1 percent growth rate by 2017, while total retail transaction share will climb up to 15.7 percent by that time.
The online shopping scene is also seeing a shift toward B2C away from C2C, possibly as brands are understanding that platform better and fine-tuning their marketing efforts. B2C is expected to account for 48 percent of all online shopping transactions by this year end, and will grow to 60.5 percent by 2017.