Asian online shoppers buy $22 billion from U.S. retailers in 2015

CHICAGO, Feb. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite the gloomy reports about China's economic slowdown, desire among Chinese online consumers for American goods is stronger than ever. In fact, the 30 U.S.-based e-retailers ranked in the just-released Internet Retailer 2016 Asia 500 sold nearly $22 billion online to Asian consumers last year—most of that to China—an increase of 24.2% from 2014. That growth reflects strong demand among middle-class Chinese shoppers for foreign goods as diverse as iPhones from No. 9-ranked Apple Inc. to imported foods from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (ranked No. 7).  And U.S. merchants aren't the only ones growing e-commerce sales in Asia. Hailing from 19 countries, the web merchants ranked in the 2016 Asia 500 collectively grew their web sales in the region by 54.5% to $220 billion.

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When factoring in the roughly $411 billion transacted through Asia's seven largest online marketplaces, including those owned by Rakuten Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Asia 500 web sales accounted for 75% of the $834.7 billion Asia-Pacific e-commerce market. Now in its third edition, the Asia 500 provides comprehensive rankings, financial data and operating details of the region's 500 largest web merchants based on their 2015 online sales.

More than half of the e-retailers ranked in the 2016 Asia 500 are based in China, the world's largest e-commerce market, and 155 of those are web-only e-retailers. That reflects the weakness of China's pre-Internet retail industry and a widely dispersed online shopping population estimated at 375 million, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, many without ready access to stores selling the quality goods Chinese shoppers increasingly crave. Data from the 2016 Asia 500 show that the 266 China-based web merchants ranked collectively grew their web sales 65.7% in 2015 to $173.69 billion from $104.82 billion in 2014. They account for 79% of total Asia 500 sales and a whopping 89% of the growth.

In addition to detailing web sales, growth rates and rankings, the 2016 Asia 500 contains a wealth of vital financial and operating metrics for each ranked e-retailer, including conversion rates, web traffic, SKUs online and e-commerce vendors used. "No e-commerce market is going to impact Western e-retailers, consumer brand manufacturers and e-commerce solutions providers more than Asia," says Jack Love, Internet Retailer publisher. "And there's no better resource than the Asia 500 to give you the competitive information you need to grow your online business globally."

All the 2016 Asia 500 proprietary data can be accessed and customized—with up to 139 metrics per ranked e-retailer—by user preference through a subscription to Top500Guide.com, the world's largest online database of competitive e-commerce information. Analysis of the data is provided in a 58-page Executive Report, available as a separate purchase.

For research information, contact: Stefany Zaroban, director of research, Internet Retailer, at 312.572.6282 or [email protected].

For media inquiries, contact: Anna Applegate, corporate marketing communications, Internet Retailer, at 312.572.6264 or [email protected]. 

ABOUT INTERNET RETAILER®

The flagship brand of Chicago-based e-commerce publisher Vertical Web Media, Internet Retailer® provides comprehensive e-commerce business intelligence through print and digital channels, including a monthly magazine, several research guides, websites, online databases, webinars and email newsletters. Internet Retailer, launched in March 1999, is the largest e-retailing monthly magazine with 44,500 subscribers. InternetRetailer.com is the most-visited informational website in e-commerce featuring daily industry news and market analysis. The site attracts more than 205,000 unique monthly visitors and is also available in Mandarin for the Chinese e-commerce market at dianshang500.com. IRNewsLink, a daily e-commerce newsletter, is sent to more than 44,000 subscribers and features a weekly mobile commerce edition.

SOURCE Internet Retailer