UBS expects China's e-commerce penetration rate to surpass US market capitalisation this year

Absrtact: Pan Jiayi, head of Asia consumer and internet research, UBS, said 9th that China's E-commerce has developed rapidly, the market value has reached 2 trillion yuan last year, the number of online consumers increased, the price advantage is obvious and payment system improvement, and other factors are expected

Pan Jiayi, head of the Asia consumer Industry and Internet Research division of UBS, said 9th that China's E-commerce has developed rapidly, with a market capitalisation of 2 trillion yuan last year, driven by an increase in the number of online shoppers, obvious price advantages and improved payment systems, The market value of E-commerce in China is expected to increase to 2.5 trillion yuan this year, and the penetration rate in the retail sector is expected to overtake the US.

Pan Jiayi said at a media briefing that the proportion of China's e-commerce to overall retail sales had risen from 6% in 2012 to slows last year, at a level similar to that of the US, which is expected to surpass the US in E-commerce this year, and will also have a significant increase in market capitalisation.

She said that China currently has 300 million online consumers, benefiting from the growing urbanization, netizens and smartphone users will increase, and more consumers through the internet shopping, in addition, E-commerce effectively reduce the cost of sales, depress the retail price, coupled with the increasingly sophisticated electronic payment system, Further improve the consumer's confidence in online shopping, these are the promotion of e-commerce development of positive factors.

Pan Jiayi that the emergence of E-commerce has also exacerbated the existence of the retail store surplus supply of physical stores, rising costs and other structural weaknesses. She said that in the past few years, the sharp decline in retail sales per square meter, forcing some businesses to continue to introduce discount promotions, the long run has brought about a vicious circle of lower profits, on the other hand, the increase in rents and labor costs, consumer purchasing power growth slowed, so the retail industry needs to adjust the business

Pan Jiayi that, to avoid the first and second-tier cities, retailers, especially the supermarket industry can still be in some e-commerce has not yet been a big kick in the area to find business opportunities.