Global E-Commerce Estimated to Exceed $2tn In 2015
Worldwide e-Commerce is set to grow well beyond US$2tn this year driven by high double-digit growth in China and the rest of Asia and continued strong growth in North America and Europe, generating another high rise in consumer parcel volumes, according to recent figures from the Ecommerce Europe association.
The association’s latest Global B2C E-commerce Report showed that global e-Commerce grew by 23.6% to US$1.6tn in 2013.
Worldwide online sales were expected to grow by 22.9% to US$1.9tn last year.
Also, Asia Pacific overtook Europe and North America in 2013 to become the world’s largest e-Commerce region, and looks set to extend its lead this year, the research for the association of European e-retailers found.
B2C e-Commerce sales in the Asia Pacific region surged by 44.5% in 2013, driven by the strong growth of online shopping in China.
B2C e-commerce sales in Europe grew by 17.1% while North America increased by 10.1% that year, according to the global report.
Latin American e-Commerce sales grew by 21.5% while the Middle East and North Africa region grew even more strongly by 32.7%.
The report published by CEP-Research also showed that with total B2C e-Commerce sales of US$419bn in 2013, the US was still the biggest individual market, but the emergence of China is significant.
Partly due to the success of e-Commerce giant Alibaba, Chinese B2C e-Commerce grew by 78.5% to US$328.4bn.
For 2014, China was even forecast to surpass the US and become the world’s new leader in terms of e-Commerce, Ecommerce Europe said.
The association pointed out that the country with the second largest e-Commerce turnover and growth rate, China is not ranked in the top ten of countries in terms of average spending per e-shopper.
Meanwhile, yStats.com report in 2014 predicted an annual growth rate of about 40% for the African e-commerce industry.
In its “Africa B2C E-Commerce Report – 2013”, the market research firm found a number of countries with strong online sales have already emerged, including South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Morocco.
An increasing Internet penetration rate, the rapid spread and accessibility of mobile technology, and recent improvements to E-Commerce Payments and delivery infrastructures on the continent have all been linked to the online retail boost.
In addition to improved Web technology and accessibility, a quickly-developing African middle class in urbanized areas is another driver in the e-commerce platform’s recent success.
“E-commerce has a high potential in Africa as the growing middle class seeks more convenient shopping and better price quality, driving local and international Internet merchants to operate in the region,” said Yücel Yelken, yStats.com’s CEO.
The report identified a number of specific established industry websites, including South African online retailer Zando and Nigeria’s large outfits Jumia and Konga.
Overall sales were less than US$1.4 billion in 2012, but strong market growth is forecasted on the continent over the next 10 years, the report found.
Mobile online payments are also expected to increase in the near future.
According to the World Bank, mobile phone usage in Africa is exploding, and has been for the past five years.
In fact, its mobile phone market has pinnacled the 650 million user tally – which is greater than the U.S. or Europe.
Internet access is rapidly expanding as well, with World Bank saying new Internet cables have been stretched out over miles of the African continent, increasing bandwidth usage twenty fold.
