The United States and China have been the largest ecommerce markets for many years and are likely to hold those top two spots for years to come. However, back in 2019, eMarketer published their list of the ecommerce markets with the highest growth rates. These markets may still be relatively small, but the trajectory of their growth is impressive.
For brands, they represent an opportunity to get an early foothold in what will eventually be a booming market. Here we examine the top 5 countries with the fastest growing ecommerce markets.
1. Mexico
Mexico may not have been your first guess at the country to top this list. Other obvious choices like India and China will follow, but the year on year growth rate of 35% puts Mexico at the top. Much of Mexico’s ecommerce growth is due to the growth of MercadoLibre and their innovations in fulfillment and payment methods that have made online purchases more accessible and more convenient. Amazon Mexico is also gaining a significant foothold in the country.
Top Marketplace: Mercado Libre MX
Growth Rate: 35%
World Ease of Doing Business Ranking: 60
2. India
India has drawn the attention of retail giant Walmart (who acquired Flipkart), and ecommerce powerhouses Amazon and eBay, among others. WIth a population of 1.353 billion and a projected 600 million internet users in the country by 2021, India is a huge opportunity. The indian ecommerce market is expected to grow to $200B by 2026 from $38.5B as of 2017.
This growth is largely attributed to increasing internet and smartphone penetration in the country. Flipkart is currently the dominant marketplace, but Amazon is making significant investments into their Indian business.
Top Marketplace: Flipkart
Growth Rate: 31.9%
World Ease of Doing Business Ranking: 63
3. Philippines
The Philippines online consumer goods market is estimated to reach $12 billion USD by 2025, up from $3 billion USD in 2019 and it is the second largest country in southeast asia in terms of internet users. The desire for products not found locally is a huge driver of growth in the Filipino market, making it a great option for overseas brands.
Social media is a huge driver behind their ecommerce growth, so be prepared with both your English and Tagalog social media campaigns as you’re moving into the market. The Alibaba-owned Lazada is the dominant marketplace in the Philippines with Shopee following close behind.
Top Marketplace: Lazada
Growth Rate: 31%
World Ease of Doing Business Ranking: 95
4. China
China is the largest and one of the fastest growing ecommerce markets in the world. They narrowly outrank India in the amount of internet users in the country, with around 632 million internet users. However, China dwarfs every other ecommerce market at $1.94 trillion USD, more than 3 times the size of the U.S. market.
There are challenges in entering the Chinese ecommerce market, namely the massive amount of competition brands face from both domestic and foreign companies. Advertising investments are a must to gain a significant foothold in the market. Brands must also optimize for mobile as 51% of all ecommerce transactions come through mobile devices. Finding success in China needs tested and proven ecommerce strategies, and ideally some part of your team present in-country.
Top Marketplace: TaoBao
Growth Rate: 27.3%
World Ease of Doing Business Ranking: 31
5. Malaysia
Malaysia, much like its neighboring Singapore, is a hotspot for cross-border ecommerce. An estimated 40% of ecommerce orders come as cross-border from the U.S. or China. Ecommerce started with eBay Malaysia way back in 2004, but has grown to include marketplaces like the Alibaba group’s Lazada marketplace as well as Shopee.
Similar to the Philippines, social media has helped drive much of the ecommerce growth, with 25 million active social media users (which makes up 78% of the population). Driven by strong social media usage and a high percentage of the population shopping on mobile devices, the Malaysia ecommerce market is expected to reach a value of $3.9 billion USD in 2020.
Top Marketplace: Shopee
Growth Rate: 22.4%
World Ease of Doing Business Ranking: 12
We hope this summary of the fastest growing ecommerce marketplaces across the globe will help you plan and strategize your global ecommerce business expansion. Pattern has experts in each market, and is the premier partner for ecommerce globally. Contact us to request a demo and find out how your brand can grow its reach to some of the fastest growing ecommerce markets in the world.
