TradePromotion

Rapid development of global B2C cross-border e-commerce

2021-7-8 9:50:50

In 2020, global B2C cross-border e-commerce has developed rapidly, and the "going global" pace of China's B2C cross-border e-commerce platform has also accelerated.

The Covid-19 pandemic has imposed a major blow on the global economy, but for cross-border e-commerce, it is a rare development opportunity. According to a report released by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the total global trade in goods fell by 5.3% in 2020, but the total global B2C cross-border e-commerce trade increased instead of falling. It is expected to rise from USD 780 billion in 2019 to USD 4.8 trillion in 2026 with an annual compound growth rate of 27%.

Cross-border e-commerce is still developing rapidly in 2021, as can be seen from the download data of shopping apps released by Sensor Tower. As of June 16 of this year, shopping app downloads increased by 32% over the first half of 2019. Take Amazon Shopping as an example. The application topped the list with 78.8 million downloads, of which 13.8 million were downloaded in the United States, and more downloads came from overseas.

The  "boom" of cross-border e-commerce has led to prosperity of the industry. Cross-border platforms have gradually become a new choice for traditional mature brands to go overseas. The global Internet penetration rate continues to expand, making the B2C cross-border e-commerce platform achieve global coverage faster than the traditional way of going global, and it is easier to reach lower-tier consumer groups with lower cost.

Furthermore, with the lowering of technical thresholds such as digital payment, many entrepreneurs and small and micro enterprises have joined the cross-border e-commerce industry. They tend to make better use of digital platforms than traditional enterprises, and have developed rapidly.

In the burgeoning of global cross-border e-commerce, China's cross-border e-commerce has performed particularly well. Statistics from China's customs show that cross-border e-commerce imports and exports in China reached 1.69 trillion yuan in 2020, an increase of 31.1%. Among them, exports were 1.12 trillion yuan, an increase of 40.1%.

At present, China is the world's largest B2C cross-border e-commerce trading market. 26% of the world's transactions take place here. The United States, Britain, Germany, and Japan rank second to fifth respectively. In addition, the share of cross-border e-commerce transactions in India, the Middle East and Russia is also growing rapidly. Among the top 10 B2C cross-border e-commerce platforms in the world, three Chinese platforms including Alibaba have taken the first, third and seventh place (including the total domestic market transactions).

The Research Report on  "Going Global"  by B2C Cross-border E-commerce Platform recently released by the Center for China and Globalization analyzed the reasons for the fast development of cross-border e-commerce in China, and believed that the quick growth of cross-border e-commerce platforms provides good infrastructure services. The on-going new free trade zone and its export policy have provided a good external environment and promoted China's small and medium-sized cross-border e-commerce companies to  "go global" quickly.

The continuous expansion of Chinese platforms in overseas markets has also gradually diversified e-commerce sales destinations, categories, and consumers. According to data provided by Alibaba AliExpress, from 2010 to 2020, the top ten GMV of the platform are achieved by economies such as Russia, the United States, France, Spain, and Brazil. In terms of product categories, the top five products are mobile phones and communication equipment, consumer electronics equipment, home and garden appliances, sports and entertainment facilities, and women's clothing.

In the future, as global logistics, payment and trade facilitation conditions continue to improve and global digitalization accelerates, cross-border e-commerce is expected to usher in greater development opportunities.

(Source: CCPIT/Economic Information Daily)