By 2020, India is expected to be the growth leader among Asia-Pacific’s top B2C markets, outpacing China. In both countries, much of the future growth is projected to stem from rural areas where online shopper penetration is rising more rapidly than in the top tier cities. B2C (business-to-customer) e-commerce is the exchange of goods or services over the internet between online stores and individual customers.

Asia-Pacific is the world’s largest B2C e-commerce market. By 2021 Asia-Pacific will account for nearly half of global B2C e-commerce sales of products and digital content. Between 2016 and 2021, the region’s online sales are projected to maintain strong double-digit growth rates and reach new heights in terms of the e-commerce share of retail.

Nations in southeast Asia are also experiencing strong growth in B2C e-commerce sales which are projected to remain in double digits, including even Singapore, already the most advanced of the Asean countries pack. Further, other advanced markets, including Australia, Japan and South Korea, are also projected to grow more moderately due to the already high rates of online shopping penetration.

M-commerce is the strongest trend in both advanced and emerging economies across the Asia-Pacific. In many of them, the mobile share of B2C e-commerce sales has already topped one-third, and in some has approached 50 per cent.