Retail in Asia

In Markets

Report: China’s e-commerce prize

China’s digital retail market is making a dramatic shift from consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sites like Taobao – which introduced shoppers to online buying – to business-to-consumer (B2C) sites like Tmall, which are trusted more by Chinese shoppers compared with the consumer sites, according to a new report released by management consulting firm Bain & Company last week.

"The potential is huge for B2C sites to win away shoppers from C2C sites," the report China’s e-commerce prize said.

To better understand how Chinese consumers shop and purchase online – and what implications that has for retailers and brands – Bain surveyed more than 1,300 online shoppers across all city tiers, incomes, ages and education levels.

The survey finds that online-only retailers lead the market over omnichannel retailers, those with both a physical and online presence. However, "there is significant growth opportunity for omnichannel merchants" the report predicated.

An encouraging finding for omnichannel players is that when offered the choice, Chinese shoppers prefer retailers’ e-commerce stores over pure play sites like Jingdong.

The survey also dispels a concern expressed by retailers that investing in their own website would cannibalise physical store sales. In fact, the opposite is true. The website feeds store sales, increasing a retailer’s total combined sales.

To download the full report, click here.