eCommerce market in Greater China

Greater China is the largest market for eCommerce with a predicted revenue of US$2,026,559.6 million by 2024, placing it ahead of the United States. Revenue is expected to show a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2028) of 8.1%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$2,769,176.8 million by 2028. With an expected increase of 10.3% in 2024, the Chinese eCommerce market contributed to the worldwide growth rate of 10.1% in 2024. Like in Greater China, global eCommerce sales are expected to increase over the next years. Seven markets are considered by ECDB within the Chinese eCommerce market. Fashion is the largest market and accounts for 35.1% of the Chinese eCommerce revenue. It is followed by Electronics with 26.4%, Care Products with 11.2%, Grocery with 9.2%, Furniture & Homeware with 6.8%, Hobby & Leisure with 6.5%, and DIY with the remaining 4.8%.

The online share refers to the proportion of the retail volume that is transacted via the Internet. It includes purchases via desktop PC, tablet or smartphone, both via website or app. Only retail of physical goods is taken into account. In the Chinese retail market, the online share is 27.8% and will increase by an average of 4.1% to 32.7% by 2028.

The biggest player in the Chinese eCommerce market is jd.com. The store had a revenue of US$115,255.0 million in 2023. Store rankings include every store that generates revenue in Greater China. These stores can either have a national focus and only sell in their main country or operate on a global scale. For this evaluation, only revenue created in Greater China was considered.

With 72.5% Ali Pay the most commonly offered payment method of all online stores in the Chinese eCommerce market in 2023. Like Ali Pay WeChat with a share of 61.6% and Union Pay with a share of 31.4% the payment type E-wallets is the most common used by online retailers in in the Chinese eCommerce market in 2023. Other commonly used payment methods in that market are VISA (Cards) with 31.4% and Mastercard (Cards) with 31.0% of stores offering that payment method to the clients.

Despite SF Express's dominant position with 68.3% of online stores opting for its services, the Chinese eCommerce market in 2023 remains diverse and competitive. Several other shipping service providers, including EMS, ZTO Express, Own delivery service, and STO Express, hold smaller but significant shares, contributing to a dynamic and fragmented market.