Dive Summary:
- A study released Thursday by global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co estimates that China's online sales will reach between $420 billion and $650 billion annually by 2020, likely making it the largest online retail market in the world.
- The country's growing consumer class and its population of Internet users--the largest in the world--are expected to drive the growth, as well as the fact that, despite its "Great Firewall" of Internet content restriction, the government has intervened very little in the development of online retail so far.
- With an estimated $190 billion to $210 billion in e-commerce sales for 2012, China is already fast approaching the United States' estimated $220 billion to $230 billion, and the McKinsey report suggests China should expand its broadband infrastructure, support logistics investment and encourage technological innovation.
From the article:
... “China is poised to become the world’s largest e-tailing market,” McKinsey said, adding sales in 2020 would match the current size of the US, Japanese, British, German and French markets combined. ...
