More and more consumers are turning to their laptops and smartphones when they want to make a purchase. Merchants are constantly searching for new ways to meld together the physical and the digital world. China in particular is experiencing huge growth in ecommerce.
This year until June, overall consumer goods sales had risen 10.4% to 17,236.9bn CNY. This is almost as much as Greece was loaned when it was bailed out by the EU ($440bn). Chinese consumers spent as much on consumer goods in 1 month as what the entire Greek government spent in 5 years.
Online sales however, rose 33.4% to 3,107.3bn CNY, increasing at an even faster rate than overall consumer goods sales. Online now accounts for over 18% of the total sales of goods and services in the country. eCommerce has shown growth in all sectors, including
Physical retail also showed growth, but in much lower numbers:
Online growth in urban areas was up 10.7% YoY to 2,554.5bn CNY. Showing serious growth potential though was rural areas, growing 12.9% YoY to 426.3bn CNY
Developed and developing countries worldwide are putting more and more focus on advancing technology and encouraging innovation. Because of this, global ecommerce is continuing to rise.
Judging by China’s first 2 quarters of this year, it appears to be setting the standard and leading the way for the future of ecommerce.