In 2016, more than 15% of Chinese residents will make online purchases from offshore sellers worth $85.76 billion, according to a new report from eMarketer. By 2020, more than a quarter of the population, representing half of all digital buyers, will be doing so, the company reported.
Chinese cross-border ecommerce, which grew a whopping 90% to $57.13 billion in 2015 according to eMarketer, is projected to grow at a healthy but pulled-back rate of 50% in 2016.
The massive growth is attributed in part to the appearance of Alibaba’s TMall and its rival JD.com over the past couple of years, as well as a rise in the Chinese standard of living and greater exposure to foreign brands. JD.com recently benefited from its acquisition of Walmart’s Yihaodian ecommerce marketplace.
Chinese consumers are expected to spend an average of $473.26 this year on cross-border purchases, representing 4.2% of the country’s total retail ecommerce market.
Research and consulting firm A.T. Kearney recently named China the top country in its 2016 Global Retail Development Index, followed by India.
You can read the entire eMarketer account here.