Ecommerce in the United States is growing faster than in China, which remains ahead in terms of overall sales volume, based on client data from payment services firm Payoneer, and the UK is growing faster than both.
With the exception of Japan, at 3%, companies in the top 10 for ecommerce sales all saw strong double-digit growth in the third quarter.
According to Payoneer, based on data from a sampling of more than 100,000 merchants selling online globally on its platform, U.S. ecommerce revenue grew 49% in the third quarter. This was ahead of the 33% growth in China, although Payoneer said the latter is still ahead in ecommerce sales volume.
The fastest pace for online revenue growth in Q3, 56%, was in the UK, which has the fourth largest sales volume, according to Payoneer. Ukraine, number 5 for ecommerce sales volume in the Q3 data sampling, posted 52% revenue growth, followed by the U.S. and Vietnam, the latter at 44%.
South Korea, number three in ecommerce sales volume, saw revenues increase by 19% in Q3. The top 10 countries also include Japan at number 7, Israel (number 8, 30%), India (number 9, 26%) and Russia (number 10, 29%).
The Asia-Pacific region is home to half of the top 10 countries with the largest sales volumes, the report shows, detailing these insights:
- South Korea has quietly becoming one of the leading ecommerce powerhouses. In addition to 19% growth in Q3, it has seen a 26% increase in the number of cross-border sellers in the past year
- Ecommerce sellers in Vietnam expanded into larger global marketplaces in droves during Q3, fueling its 44% growth
- Ecommerce sales over the holidays are expected to grow 35% globally. The UK is anticipating even higher growth, at 50%, while India is looking at a 60% gain, based on Payoneer data
“The growth in Vietnamese ecommerce has largely come from local merchants who have expanded their businesses beyond print-on-demand and drop shipping to more global marketplaces, including Amazon,” said Miguel Warren, Payoneer’s regional vice president for Southeast Asia. “This has helped place Vietnam among the leading countries for cross-border sellers.”
Altogether, the top ten countries in East Asia and South Asia (China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan) nearly doubled ecommerce revenue in Q3, the report shows, while the Eastern Europe bloc (Russia and Ukraine) saw revenues increase 81%.
While noting the 2019 holiday season is six days shorter than in 2018, the report said early deals, growth in the seller community and increased access to international marketplaces signal another record-breaking year.
“This holiday season is once again set to break all records and marketplaces continue to outpace the overall trends,” said Jonny Steel, Payoneer’s vice president of marketing. “In the U.S. alone, analysts predict that Amazon will account for nearly half of all online sales.”