Amazing ecommerce growth in Fashion in China

Nowadays, China is the largest e-commerce market in the world.

The fashion e-commerce industry is one of the fastest growing online market in China.

In 2013, the global e-commerce sales rose up to US$889 billion and in China reached US$314 billion, being the largest market.

During the last year, shoppers spent an average of US$1,040 and it expected that in 2018 they will spend an average of US$1,880 per user.

It expected an increase of the e-commerce market during the next years and as a result of that, in 2018 Chinese e-commerce industry will increase up to 10 percent more than in 2013.

The fastest growing part of e-commerce spending is in fashion goods. Clothes, footwear and accessories are the most popular product categories to sell online. In 2013, over 23% of Chinese bought these products through e-commerce platforms. The online retail purchasing of apparel, footwear and accessories accounted around $71 billion in the last year and is expected an increasing up to $100 billion in 2014, which means a year-to-year growth of 42.6%.

Due the increase popularity of e-commerce, China is in the midst of a significant commerce change, which is impacting every market, specially the fashion industry.

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Tmall and Taobao are the most successfull e-commerce platforms in China with over 300 million active consumers. Due its popularity, there is more and more foreign brands which are launching online shops on Tmall. Well-known brands such as Burberry, Calvin Klein, Zara or Coach have opened stores on Tmall.

China wants to be a consumption-led economy but there are some barriers that have to be removed like the absence of a social safety net, the unequal quality of its physical infrastructure and the regional imbalances in economic development.

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Technological innovations and the digital revolution are helpful in order to guarantee a sustainable growth of the Chinese economy. Which is why, a larger mobile integration, a better infrastructure and a greater participation are essential elements during the next years.

Mobile penetration:

In China there are over 780 million active mobile devices, 58% are located in lower-tier cities where usually, the first contact with internet is via smartphone. In 2014 online sales via mobile platforms accounted around 26% of the total purchases in China. The quick growth of e-commerce suggest a close link between online purchasing and the mobile integration.

How-to-Make-Sense-of-Social-Media-in-China

Improve infrastructure:

The Chinese government will finance railways, waterways and highways in order to improve the country’s infrastructure. The government will support the construction of 200 logistics industrial parks in major economic areas, as it’s mentioned in the 12th Five-Year Plan of China

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There are some factors that could drive the e-commerce growth:

  • Promote the mass consumption through the affordability. For instance, the Alibaba price index has experimented a decrease prices, showing a better affordability for everyone.
  • An increasing participation of rural zones and SMEs. Last year, 70% of China’s GDP came from SMEs and rural areas accounted the 46% of China’s population. It’s important to reach to these audiences in order to facilitate them their participation into the e-commerce.
  • Improve the supply and distribution chains to get an efficient commerce.
  • Avoid the counterfeit products and fictitious transactions, in order to gain the trustfulness of the consumers

luxury markets runway

The mobile penetration has boosted the e-commerce growth in China, especially in the fashion sector but still necessary to improve infrastructure in order to offer an efficient distribution of the products.

The fashion sector is in the middle of a strong competition to catch Chinese buyers. Therefore Western brands have to increase its efforts and develop marketing strategies to reach them.

If you want to attract Chinese consumers and boost your sales, don’t hesitate to contact us, we can help you with your marketing strategy.

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1 comment

  • Dodo Mkg

    I am writing a book about e-commerce in China, do you have a dedicated website or similar up-to-date articles on the topic please? Can also exchange referral links 🙂

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