Mobile e-commerce in China
www.chandlernguyen.com Feb 2016
1. China retail m-commerce sales was 3.7X that of the US in 2015 and is growing rapidly at 40%+ annually $1200 Retail m-commerce sales (in Billions)
$1,040
$900 $737
$600 $506
$334
$300 $180 $89
$57
$0 2014
2015 China
2016 US
$178
$151
$123
2017 UK
2018 KR
Note: No available data for JP, Germany and Australia from eMarketer Retail m-commerce includes products or services ordered using the internet via mobile devices (including sales on tablets), regardless of the method of payment or fulfilment; excludes travel and event tickets; excludes Hong Kong; converted at the exchange rate of US$1=RMB6.1457
Source: eMarketer Oct 2015 report
2. China has about 335M mobile internet buyers (2.7X the US number), and the annual growth rate is around 10% 460
13.0%
345
445 11.8% 374
412 9.8%
9.9%
335 298
8.2%
230
6.5%
115
3.3%
0 2014
2015
Mobile internet buyers*
2016
2017
2018
0.0%
Mobile internet buyer growth
Note: Research from November 2015 Visa report titled "eCommerce Consumer Monitor 2015" conducted by ORC International (Opinion Research Corporation), indicated that the percentage of mobile buyers is about 70%-80% of desktop/laptop buyers in China. https://goo.gl/JOsnDR Internet user and digital buyer data are from eMarketer 2015 reports. Mobile internet buyer numbers are estimated numbers, using 80% of the number of digital buyers. This is a very conservative approach since the number of mobile internet users in China in 2015 was 590M users. Raw data is at the appendix
Mobile internet buyer growth
Mobile internet buyers (in millions)
12.3%
3. Mobile buyers in China spend about $1000/ year in 2015 (37% higher than the US) and the spend growth rate is about 30% annually $2400
Annual spend per mobile internet buyer
$2,335
$1800
$1,791
$1,350
$1200
$1,146 $1,026
$997 $903
$600
$0
$727 $605
$541
2014
2015
2016 China
2017
2018
US
Note: Retail m-commerce sales taken from eMarketer Oct 2015 report. The number of mobile internet buyer was deduced using the approach on slide 3 above. Retail m-commerce includes products or services ordered using the internet via mobile devices (including sales on tablets), regardless of the method of payment or fulfilment; excludes travel and event tickets; excludes Hong Kong for China; converted at the exchange rate of US$1=RMB6.1457 Raw data in the appendix
Source: eMarketer Oct 2015 report
4. Digital buyers in China are male skew (55%), the majority (55%) between 18-34 year old with household income between $650-$1000 (56%)
5. 75% of digital buyers in China use WeChat
6. Alipay has a commanding lead in mobile payment transaction value in China with more than 75% of the volume
Note: Data is from an October 2015 Analysys International Enfodesk study as cited in press release. Data is based on interviews with industry stakeholders, Analysys International Enfodesk's proprietary monitor data and estimates based on its own forecast model.
7. 70% of digital buyers in China would make purchases/payments online for digital content, travel, bill payments and movie tickets
8. 65%-68% of digital buyers in China are impulse shoppers, significantly higher than those in the US or JP
Note: Impulse shopper: Those who frequently browse product categories they do not originally think of purchasing. Data is from the December 2015 Hakuhodo and Communication University of China report titled "2015 Consumer Observations" as cited in press release. 3,520 consumers ages 20-59 living across tier 1-3 cities in China were surveyed during November 16-19, 2015. Among the respondents in China, 960 had a monthly household income of 7,000+ Chinese yuan renminbi and were from tier-1 cities (Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai), 1,280 had a monthly household income of 5,000+ Chinese yuan renminbi and were from tier-2 cities (Fuzhou, Shenyang, Wuhan, Xian) and 1,280 had a monthly household income of 4,000+ Chinese yuan renminbi and were from tier-3 cities (Shantou, Xiangyang, Xuzhou, Zhangjiakou).
Appendix
eMarketer Aug 2015 data on China mobile phone internet users and digital buyers
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Internet users
647,709,053
674,342,620
700,096,096
736,241,694
778,154,316
Mobile phone internet users
561,803,928
589,134,266
618,719,993
653,155,580
691,532,125
Digital buyers
372,813,062
418,669,068
468,072,019
514,411,148
556,592,863
Mobile internet buyers (estimated at 80% of digital buyers)
298,250,449
334,935,255
374,457,615
411,528,919
445,274,290
Digital buyers (% of internet users)
60.10%
64.80%
69.80%
73.00%
74.70%
eMarketer 2015 data on Chinese & US mobile buyers 2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
China Average Annual Spend per Mobile buyer
$605
$997
$1350
$1791
$2335
US Average Annual spend per Mobile buyer
$541
$727
$903
$1026
$1146
$180.41
$333.99
$505.74
$737.07
$1,039.84
CN Mobile buyers (in Millions)
298.3
334.9
374.5
411.5
445.3
US Retail m-commerce sales (in Billions)
$56.67
$88.53
$123.13
$151.11
$178.27
US Mobile buyers (in Millions)
104.8
121.8
136.3
147.3
155.5
China Mobile ecommerce sales (in Billions)
Note: Mobile buyer: ages 14+; mobile device users who have used their mobile device to make at least one purchase via web browser or mobile app during the calendar year Retail m-commerce sales: includes products or services ordered using the internet via mobile devices, regardless of the method of payment or fulfilment; includes sales on tablets; excludes travel and event ticket sales
Annual spend per mobile internet buyer
3. Mobile buyers in China spend about $1000/year in 2015 and the spend growth rate is about 30% annually $2400 $2,335
$1800
$1,791
$1,351
$1200 $997
$600
$0
$605
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Annual spend per mobile internet buyer
Note: Retail m-commerce sales taken from eMarketer Oct 2015 report. The number of mobile internet buyer was deduced using the approach on slide 3 above. Retail m-commerce includes products or services ordered using the internet via mobile devices (including sales on tablets), regardless of the method of payment or fulfilment; excludes travel and event tickets; excludes Hong Kong; converted at the exchange rate of US$1=RMB6.1457
Source: eMarketer Oct 2015 report
Top 3 Payment Methods that Digital Buyers in China Will Use for Purchases Made During 11/11 Digital Shopping Festival*, Nov 2015
