After breaking U.S. IPO records in September, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba this week made U.S.$9.3 billion in sales on November 11—”Singles’ Day,” a “Cyber Monday” with Chinese characteristics—shattering the online shopping world record set by the company last year. A report from Leo Mirani at Quartz looks at predictions that Chinese e-commerce sales will pass those of the rest of the world combined by 2018:
[…] Singles Day is just the beginning. Chinese e-commerce is about to get much, much bigger. By 2018 sales from e-commerce in China will exceed those in the rest of the world combined, reckons Morgan Stanley.
At the rate e-commerce is growing, it will account for one in every five renminbi spent in China by 2018.
One of the factors that helps drive rising e-commerce sales is consumer confidence. The more experience people have with online shopping, the more they spend. […] [Source]
E-commerce could do much to help spur consumption amid slowing growth in China.
Also see the New York Times’ coverage of a virtual t-shirt shop that was shut down by Alibaba for selling a shirt showing veiled support for dissident artist Ai Weiwei.
