China’s exploding eCommerce market is real
Annual disposable income continues to rise in China and eCommerce sales are benefiting.
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Earlier this year, The National Bureau of Statistics China released their 2016 report on the country’s social and economic development.
The report continues to show a steady rise in consumer spending with most increases among urban dwellers. This should not be surprising as urban residents earn near 3 times as much as rural residents.
China’s urban migration also continues with 57.4% of residents living in urban centers. At the end of 2016, China had a population of 1.38 billion people.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ECOMMERCE?
China’s eCommerce sector has been booming and continues a steady climb. Fung Global Retail & Technology estimates that by 2020, 25% of all retail sales in China will be online.
While the eCommerce market share rate is slowing down, 2016 Chinese online buyers still accounted for 19% of total retail sales.
Compare this to the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau report for Q4 2016, eCommerce sales made up 8.3% of all retail sales.
THE PUSH BY ALIBABA IS NOT JUST POLITICS
We reported last week that Alibaba announced their first trade conference, Gateway 17, for entrepreneurs in the United States. While some people may write off this conference as political theater, there are real reasons for U.S. businesses to consider selling to China.
As Chinese consumers become more affluent, they look for imported goods. Genuine U.S. and European brand products are a quasi-status symbol!
This is the opportunity that Alibaba plans to demonstrate to entrepreneurs in Detroit. At Gateway 17, Alibaba will have workshops on various aspects of cross-border trade with China.
Historically, it has not been easy to deal with China, but Alibaba’s involvement should smoothen out hurdles for US entrepreneurs.
If you plan to attend, we would love to hear your feedback from the conference. Drop us a line or comment below.
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Richard Meldner
Richard is co-founder of eSeller365. He has over 17 years of experience on eBay which includes tens of thousands of sales to buyers in over 100 countries and even has experience with eBay’s VeRO program enforcing intellectual property rights for a former employer. And for about two years Richard sold products on Amazon using Amazon FBA in the US.
To “relax” from the daily business grind, for a few weekends a year, he also works for IMSA as a professional race official.