The global landscape of ecommerce is evolving rapidly as it continues to soar in the emerging markets. The rise in internet access, expanding incomes and the use of smart phones in emerging markets has been the main driver for ecommerce growth. The graph below (Source:eMarketer) shows these increasing trends.
If the internet usage across the developing countries matures at par with developed countries, there would be an additional 1 billion internet users with India and China likely to be the major contributors of growth. The number of consumers using e-commerce for their shopping needs has been rising steadily as seen from the graph below
Source:Credit Suisse – Survey for various age groups
Online retail is growing steadily in China and seems to be at par with the US levels as shown from the graph below.
Source: Forrester, CEIC, iResearch, Credit Suisse
In India too, the share of young shoppers online have more than doubled. The potential of e-commerce appears to be huge. The companies likely to leverage this advantage are not only of technology and software segments but the numerous product providers and firms offering online payments & security.
Though these markets are evolving, they still are a long way from catching up with the developed countries. But their e-commerce infrastructure is developing steadily and is likely to see a rapid growth in the coming years. As more and more consumers get comfortable with online technology, they embrace e-commerce, gain confidence to shop online and pave way to outdo established markets by way of volumes.
Though they have limitations such as payment challenges & infrastructure reach, emerging markets still present a wealth of opportunities in e-commerce retail. If you are considering investing in e-commerce, you should definitely consider these emerging markets with potential for growth.
