The Chinese retail market is poised to become the first in the world to be dominated by e-commerce transactions as Lunar New Year retail sales beat expectations amid a pandemic-driven economic slowdown, reported the South China Morning Post.
Research firm eMarketer expects 52.1% of China’s total retail sales to come from e-commerce transactions in 2021, increasing from 44.8% last year.
“That means that for the first time anywhere, a majority of retail sales for an entire country will transact online,” said the firm in a report.
No other country comes close to China in terms of e-commerce sales. South Korea is expected to see 28.9% of its retail market based online this year, while the United States will hit 15%, the report said.