The explosive growth of online shopping in China

September 22nd, 2008

According to iResearch, the total volume of consumer transactions online in China during the first half of 2008 was 53.1 billion RMB - not far off from the 56.1 billion RMB total for all of 2007.

During the first half of 2008, China’s leading online shopping website Taobao.com alone commanded a transaction volume of 41.3 billion RMB, which translates to a 77.7% market share. This the about double the transaction volume for the same period last year.

The most popular goods traded online were: 1) Clothes, 2) Cellphones and 3) Housewares. The prices of online goods also seems to have defied China’s general inflationary trend - instead prices have remained the same or even decreased, e.g. clothing prices online have dropped about 10% compared to last year.

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