Digital Commerce in Asia Pacific

Key Findings

Asia Pacific shows strongest growth in digital connectivity and digital commerce

Digital commerce in Asia Pacific has risen in a unique way compared to Western regions, and its growth is sometimes described as leapfrogging certain technologies. The region is mobile-orientated and consumer-orientated. For many Asian countries, the digital revolution has led consumers to jump to the forefront of shopping experiences, skipping the development process that Western countries have experienced over the past decades.

Mobile as the main device in multiple countries

Mobile devices lead digital commerce in the region, offering enhanced customer experiences and personalised offerings. China, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines already show higher mobile rates than PC with remote purchases in 2018. Taiwan will join this trend by 2023. Emerging supper apps in Southeast Asia such as Grab and GoJek seek to follow China’s WeChat, leveraging the rapid spread of mobile devices in the region.

Retailing leads growth in remote and proximity payments

In both remote and proximity, retailing leads in many countries. In the region’s powerhouse, China, Alibaba Group took advantage of holding the largest e-commerce marketplace in the country, Tmall. In proximity payments, however, WeChat Pay by Alibaba’s competitor Tencent Group prevails over Alipay by offering in-store coupons at major retailers through SNS WeChat. Within retailing remote purchases, fashion, cosmetics and digital media content are the preferred product categories. 

Asia Pacific will become more influential backed by the largest population connected to the internet

Despite the rapid development, as of 2018, only 54% of the total population in China, 35% in India and 36% in Indonesia are connected to the internet. This is expected to expand to 70%, 54%, and 56%, respectively, by 2023. With the high volume of total population in these Asian countries and accelerated improvement of digital connectivity, Asia Pacific region’s influence over the digital commerce trends in the world will become even stronger.