Global Online Shopping Market: Snapshot
Online shopping is the act of purchasing goods or services over the Internet. Over the years, online shopping has grown in popularity as people find it convenient to shop from the comfort of their home or office. Online shopping transactions can be completed using credit card, debit card, or e-wallet among others. Internet banking can also be used to complete a transaction for online shopping.
Online shopping can include anything from groceries to greeting cards to cell phones to electronics. While super markets and neighborhood stores still remain more popular for groceries, ordering groceries online is increasingly pacing up. Online shopping is gaining at an unprecedented pace in emerging economies such as India because of rising consumerism coupled with increasing ubiquity of smart electronics.
Online shopping came into existence a decade and a half ago. Amazon.com the online book store made history by becoming the first bookstore to have presence only on the Internet. With the success of Amozon.com, several book retailers with physical stores made a presence on the Internet.
Online shopping has its share of advantages. It is faster, convenient, and sometimes also cheaper. It saves standing in long queues and waiting for turn to make a purchase. Online shopping may sometimes involve paying a premium but it is still preferred because of the high convenience factor.
Of the many categories, travel remains the most popular for online shopping. Domestic travel, international travel, leisure travel, personal travel, business travel ticketing and travel itineraries are sold by large travel planners and small travel agents. Online shopping for travel includes various modes which include air, rail, bus, and cab. The development of mobile app of some large travel companies has added to the popularity of online travel shopping.
Global Online Shopping Market: Overview
The global market for online shopping is observing a significant upsurge in its valuation and size. The expanding base of working class population and the rise in the purchasing power of the middle class population, across the world, has propelled this market substantially. With continual advancements in related technologies, this market is projected to keep on witnessing high growth over the next few years.
Global Online Shopping Market: Key Trends
The rising user base of smart phones and increasing penetration of Internet has surfaced as the most prominent trend is the global market for online shopping. The introduction of mobile app versions of e-commercial sites has made a remarkable difference to the overall shopping experience of consumers, providing a strong boost to its popularity. This, as a result, is driving the growth of this market significantly.
On the flip side, negative currency and the constant decline in oil prices have an adverse impact on retail sales value, which, subsequently, is impeding the growth of this market. Over the coming years, the lack of an advanced digital payments infrastructure and the presence of a weak logistics framework, making e-retail companies unable to handle high volumes of online orders, may limit the markets growth to some extent.
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Global Online Shopping Market: Market Potential
The global online shopping market is gaining tremendously from the significant rise in the disposable income the middle class consumers across the world. The continuous increase in the population base of working people, who lack time for physical shopping, is another important factor that is influencing the growth of the worldwide market for online shopping.
Going forward, the increasing competition between e-commercial sites and the improvement in the infrastructure and logistics are likely to boost the growth of this market in the years to come. The frequent introduction of discounts and lucrative packages are also projected to reflect positively on this market over the next few years.
Global Online Shopping Market: Regional Outlook
The global market for online shopping registers its presence across Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), North America, and the Rest of the World. Asia pacific, among these, has surfaced as the most promising market for online shopping, thanks to the rising number of affluent working-class population. The regional market is likely to remain on the top spot over the next few years on the grounds of the exceptional increase in the penetration of mobile and Internet, supported by 4G initiatives.
Global Online Shopping Market: Competitive Analysis
With ample of new players joining the league every day, the global online shopping market has become extremely competitive and fragmented. Amazon, with its loyal consumer base, leads the way to the top and, with its ambitious Amazon Marketplace project; it is likely to retain its position in the years to come. Other prominent players in this market are Alibaba, Wal-Mart, Apple, Costco Wholesale, CVS, Flipkart, Target, Bestbuy, Newegg, and Ebay.