Advertisement
Alibaba
TechBig Tech

Mobile e-commerce sales in China poised to top US$1 trillion

Alibaba and JD.com lead an online retail bonanza that may attract 443.3 million mainland mobile shoppers next year, up from 410.2 million this year

Reading Time:1 minute
Why you can trust SCMP
A customer pays with Alipay at a department store in Singapore. Photo: Xinhua
Bien Perez

More than three quarters of mainland China’s online retail sales next year – forecast to be worth more than US$1 trillion – will be transacted over mobile devices, led by e-commerce behemoths Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com.

That growth is being spurred by the rising number of domestic online shoppers, especially those from the smaller cities, benefiting from the increased proliferation of smartphones as well as efforts by Alibaba and JD to make purchases on mobile devices easier, according to an eMarketer report.

The research firm predicted the total number of smartphone-based online shoppers on the mainland to reach 443.3 million next year, up from an estimated 410.2 million this year.

Advertisement

They would account for 75.3 per cent, or US$1.2 trillion, of total domestic retail e-commerce sales next year.

Advertisement
It is a trend supported by the country’s status as the world’s largest smartphone market, and manifested in recent data from Alibaba and Tencent Holdings-backed JD.com.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x