Editing E-commerce (section)

==Global trends==
E-commerce has become an important tool for small and large businesses worldwide, not only to sell to customers, but also to engage them.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eisingerich|first1=Andreas B.|last2=Kretschmer|first2=Tobias|date=March 2008|title=In E-Commerce, More is More|url=https://hbr.org/2008/03/in-e-commerce-more-is-more|journal=[[Harvard Business Review]]|volume=86|pages=20–21|url-access=limited|access-date=4 May 2021|archive-date=3 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203204602/https://hbr.org/2008/03/in-e-commerce-more-is-more|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Burgess|first1=Stephen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9KF8HtigrAC|title=Effective Web Presence Solutions for Small Businesses: Strategies for Successful Implementation: Strategies for Successful Implementation|last2=Sellitto|first2=Carmine|last3=Karanasios|first3=Stan|date=28 February 2009|publisher=[[IGI Global]]|isbn=9781605662251|publication-date=28 February 2009|access-date=4 May 2021|url-status=live|archive-date=4 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504223600/https://books.google.com/books/?id=n9KF8HtigrAC}}</ref>

Cross-border e-Commerce is also an essential field for e-Commerce businesses.  It has responded to the trend of globalization. It shows that numerous firms have opened up new businesses, expanded new markets, and overcome trade barriers; more and more enterprises have started exploring the cross-border cooperation field. In addition, compared with traditional cross-border trade, the information on cross-border e-commerce is more concealed. In the era of globalization, cross-border e-commerce for inter-firm companies means the activities, interactions, or social relations of two or more e-commerce enterprises. However, the success of cross-border e-commerce promotes the development of small and medium-sized firms, and it has finally become a new transaction mode. It has helped the companies solve financial problems and realize the reasonable allocation of resources field. SMEs ( small and medium enterprises) can also precisely match the demand and supply in the market, having the industrial chain majorization and creating more revenues for companies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Si-Hua |last2=Xiao |first2=Hua |last3=Huang |first3=Wen-de |last4=He |first4=Wei |date=2022-01-02 |title=Cooperation of Cross-border E-commerce: A reputation and trust perspective |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/1097198X.2021.2022396 |journal=Journal of Global Information Technology Management |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=7–25 |doi=10.1080/1097198X.2021.2022396 |s2cid=246867732 |issn=1097-198X}}</ref>

In 2012, e-commerce sales topped $1 trillion for the first time in history.<ref>{{cite web|date=5 February 2013|title=Ecommerce Sales Topped $1 Trillion for First Time in 2012|url=https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Ecommerce-Sales-Topped-1-Trillion-First-Time-2012/1009649|url-status=live|access-date=4 May 2021|work=[[eMarketer]]|archive-date=30 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330180629/https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Ecommerce-Sales-Topped-1-Trillion-First-Time-2012/1009649}}</ref>

Mobile devices are playing an increasing role in the mix of e-commerce, this is also commonly called mobile commerce, or m-commerce. In 2014, one estimate saw purchases made on mobile devices making up 25% of the market by 2017.<ref>{{cite web|last=Enright|first=Allison|date=25 April 2013|title=U.S. e-commerce sales could top $434 billion in 2017|url=https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2013/04/25/us-e-commerce-sales-could-top-434-billion-2017/|url-status=live|access-date=4 May 2021|website=[[Digital Commerce 360]]|archive-date=2 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202043908/https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2013/04/25/us-e-commerce-sales-could-top-434-billion-2017/}}</ref>

For traditional businesses, one research stated that information technology and cross-border e-commerce is a good opportunity for the rapid development and growth of enterprises. Many companies have invested an enormous volume of investment in mobile applications. The DeLone and McLean Model stated that three perspectives contribute to a successful e-business: information system quality, service quality and users' satisfaction.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=DeLone|first1=William H.|last2=McLean|first2=Ephraim R.|date=8 December 2014|title=Measuring e-Commerce Success: Applying the DeLone & McLean Information Systems Success Model|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10864415.2004.11044317|journal=International Journal of Electronic Commerce|volume=9|issue=1|pages=31–47|doi=10.1080/10864415.2004.11044317|via=Taylor & Francis|s2cid=205751936|access-date=4 May 2021|archive-date=23 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323032755/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10864415.2004.11044317|url-status=live}}</ref> There is no limit of time and space, there are more opportunities to reach out to customers around the world, and to cut down unnecessary intermediate links, thereby reducing the cost price, and can benefit from one on one large customer data analysis, to achieve a high degree of personal customization strategic plan, in order to fully enhance the core competitiveness of the products in the company.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bakos|first1=Yannis|date=2001|title=The Emerging Landscape for Retail E-Commerce|url=https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.15.1.69|url-status=live|journal=[[Journal of Economic Perspectives]]|volume=15|issue=1|pages=69–80|citeseerx=10.1.1.4.9128|doi=10.1257/jep.15.1.69|access-date=4 May 2021|archive-date=18 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118041827/https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fjep.15.1.69}}</ref>

Modern 3D graphics technologies, such as [[Facebook 3D Posts]], are considered by some social media marketers and advertisers as a preferable way to promote consumer goods than static photos, and some brands like Sony are already paving the way for augmented reality commerce. Wayfair now lets you inspect a 3D version of its furniture in a home setting before buying.<ref>{{cite news|last=Constine|first=Josh|date=20 February 2018|title=Facebook's plan to unite AR, VR and News Feed with 3D posts|work=[[TechCrunch]]|url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/20/facebook-3d-posts/|url-status=live|access-date=4 May 2021|archive-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504090211/https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/20/facebook-3d-posts/}}</ref>

=== China ===
{{Main article|E-commerce in China}}
Among emerging economies, China's e-commerce presence continues to expand every year. With 668 million Internet users as of 2014, China's online shopping sales reached $253 billion in the first half of 2015, accounting for 10% of total Chinese consumer retail sales in that period.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Millward |first=Steven |date=18 August 2015 |title=China is making a huge shift to mobile |url=https://www.techinasia.com/china-internet-social-media-ecommerce-stats-2015 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306203048/https://www.techinasia.com/china-internet-social-media-ecommerce-stats-2015 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |access-date=4 May 2021 |website=[[Tech in Asia]] |type=Infographic}}</ref> The Chinese retailers have been able to help consumers feel more comfortable shopping online.<ref>{{cite news |last=Olsen |first=Robert |date=18 January 2010 |title=China's Migration To E-Commerce |newspaper=[[Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/2010/01/18/china-internet-commerce-markets-equities-alibaba.html/ |url-status=live |access-date=4 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806145344/https://www.forbes.com/2010/01/18/china-internet-commerce-markets-equities-alibaba.html |archive-date=6 August 2017}}</ref> e-commerce transactions between China and other countries increased 32% to 2.3 trillion yuan ($375.8 billion) in 2012 and accounted for 9.6% of China's total international trade.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tong |first=Frank |date=16 September 2013 |title=China's cross‑border e‑commerce tops $375 billion in 2012 |newspaper=[[Digital Commerce 360]] |publisher=[[Vertical Web Media LLC]] |url=https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2013/09/16/chinas-cross-border-e-commerce-tops-375-billion-2012/ |url-status=live |access-date=4 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018171240/https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2013/09/16/chinas-cross-border-e-commerce-tops-375-billion-2012/ |archive-date=18 October 2017}}</ref> In 2013, [[Alibaba Group|Alibaba]] had an e-commerce market share of 80% in China.<ref>{{cite web |author=Millward |first=Steven |date=17 September 2014 |title=Here are all the must-see numbers on Alibaba ahead of record-breaking IPO |url=http://www.techinasia.com/alibaba-numbers-ipo-breaks-records-2014/ |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140920190816/http://www.techinasia.com/alibaba-numbers-ipo-breaks-records-2014/ |archive-date=20 September 2014 |access-date=4 May 2021 |work=[[Tech in Asia]]}}</ref> In 2014, Alibaba still dominated the B2B marketplace in China with a market share of 44.82%, followed by several other companies including Made-in-China.com at 3.21%, and GlobalSources.com at 2.98%, with the total transaction value of China's B2B market exceeding 4.5 billion yuan.<ref>{{cite web |last=PYMNTS.com |date=22 October 2014 |title=China B2B Passes 4.5B Yuan |url=https://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/china-b2b-passes-4-5b-yuan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308085620/https://www.pymnts.com/news/2014/china-b2b-passes-4-5b-yuan/ |archive-date=8 March 2023 |access-date=8 March 2023 |website=PYMNTS.com}}</ref>

China is also the largest e-commerce market in the world by value of sales, with an estimated {{USD|899 billion}} in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |last=Millward |first=Steven |date=18 August 2016 |title=Asia's ecommerce spending to hit record $1 trillion this year – but most of that is China |url=https://www.techinasia.com/asia-ecommerce-spending-1-trillion-dollars-2016 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819043228/https://www.techinasia.com/asia-ecommerce-spending-1-trillion-dollars-2016 |archive-date=19 August 2016 |access-date=4 May 2021 |work=[[Tech in Asia]]}}</ref> It accounted for 42.4% of worldwide retail e-commerce in that year, the most of any country.<ref name="Hu-2023">{{Cite book |last=Hu |first=Richard |title=Reinventing the Chinese City |date=2023 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |isbn=978-0-231-21101-7 |location=New York}}</ref>{{Rp|page=110}} Research shows that Chinese consumer motivations are different enough from Western audiences to require unique e-commerce app designs instead of simply porting Western apps into the Chinese market.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parker |first1=Christopher J. |last2=Wenyu |first2=Lu |date=13 May 2019 |title=What influences Chinese fashion retail? Shopping motivations, demographics and spending |url=https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JFMM-09-2017-0093/full/html |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=158–175 |doi=10.1108/jfmm-09-2017-0093 |issn=1361-2026 |s2cid=170031856 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308110006/https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JFMM-09-2017-0093/full/html |archive-date=8 March 2021 |access-date=16 April 2021}}</ref>

The expansion of e-commerce in China has resulted in the development of [[Taobao village]]s, clusters of e-commerce businesses operating in rural areas.<ref name="Hu-2023" />{{Rp|page=112}} Because Taobao villages have increased the incomes or rural people and entrepreneurship in rural China, Taobao villages have become a component of rural revitalization strategies.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Yang |first1=Saidi |last2=Wang |first2=Puqing |last3=Zhou |first3=Deyi |chapter=Transformation and Development of Taobao Village in China Based on "Zhijiang Mode" |date=2021 |title=Proceedings of the 2020 3rd International Seminar on Education Research and Social Science (ISERSS 2020) |location=Paris, France |publisher=Atlantis Press |doi=10.2991/assehr.k.210120.053|doi-access=free |isbn=978-94-6239-316-5 }}</ref>{{Rp|page=278}}

In 2015, the [[State Council of the People's Republic of China|State Council]] promoted the Internet Plus initiative, a five-year plan to integrate traditional manufacturing and service industries with big data, cloud computing, and [[Internet of things]] technology.<ref name=":Zhang">{{Cite book |last=Zhang |first=Angela Huyue |title=High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9780197682258}}</ref>{{Rp|page=44}} The State Council provided support for Internet Plus through policy support in area including cross-border e-commerce and rural e-commerce.<ref name=":Zhang" />{{Rp|page=44}}

In 2019, the city of [[Hangzhou]] established a pilot program artificial intelligence-based [[Hangzhou Internet Court|Internet Court]] to adjudicate disputes related to e-commerce and internet-related [[Intellectual property in China|intellectual property]] claims.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Šimalčík |first=Matej |title=Contemporary China: a New Superpower? |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-03-239508-1 |editor-last=Kironska |editor-first=Kristina |chapter=Rule by Law |editor-last2=Turscanyi |editor-first2=Richard Q.}}</ref>{{Rp|page=124}}

=== Europe ===
In 2010, the United Kingdom had the highest per capita e-commerce spending in the world.<ref>{{cite news |last=Robinson |first=James |date=28 October 2010 |title=UK's internet industry worth £100bn |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |type=report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/oct/28/net-worth-100bn-uk |url-status=live |access-date=4 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219090350/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/oct/28/net-worth-100bn-uk |archive-date=19 February 2018}}</ref> As of 2013, the Czech Republic was the European country where e-commerce delivers the biggest contribution to the enterprises' total revenue. Almost a quarter (24%) of the country's total turnover is generated via the online channel.<ref>{{cite web |date=18 June 2013 |title=Ecommerce contribution in Europe |url=https://ecommercenews.eu/infographic-ecommerce-contribution-in-europe/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125131628/https://ecommercenews.eu/infographic-ecommerce-contribution-in-europe/ |archive-date=25 January 2021 |access-date=4 May 2021 |website=[[Ecommerce News]] |type=infographic}}</ref>

=== Arab states ===
The rate of growth of the number of internet users in the Arab countries has been rapid – 13.1% in 2015. A significant portion of the e-commerce market in the Middle East comprises people in the 30–34 year age group. Egypt has the largest number of internet users in the region, followed by Saudi Arabia and Morocco; these constitute 3/4th of the region's share. Yet, internet penetration is low: 35% in Egypt and 65% in Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 June 2016 |title=Ecommerce in the Middle East – What are the demographics? |url=https://www.embitel.com/blog/ecommerce-blog/ecommerce-in-the-middle-east-what-are-the-demographics |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827010001/https://www.embitel.com/blog/ecommerce-blog/ecommerce-in-the-middle-east-what-are-the-demographics |archive-date=27 August 2017 |access-date=4 May 2021 |website=[[Embitel]]}}</ref>

The [[Gulf Cooperation Council]] countries have a rapidly growing market and are characterized by a population that becomes wealthier (Yuldashev). As such, retailers have launched Arabic-language websites as a means to target this population. Secondly, there are predictions of increased mobile purchases and an expanding internet audience (Yuldashev). The growth and development of the two aspects make the GCC countries become larger players in the electronic commerce market with time progress. Specifically, research shows that the e-commerce market is expected to grow to over $20 billion by 2020 among these GCC countries (Yuldashev). The e-commerce market has also gained much popularity among western countries, and in particular Europe and the U.S. These countries have been highly characterized by consumer-packaged goods (CPG) (Geisler, 34). However, trends show that there are future signs of a reverse. Similar to the GCC countries, there has been increased purchase of goods and services in online channels rather than offline channels. Activist investors are trying hard to consolidate and slash their overall cost and the governments in western countries continue to impose more regulation on CPG manufacturers (Geisler, 36). In these senses, CPG investors are being forced to adapt to e-commerce as it is effective as well as a means for them to thrive.

The future trends in the GCC countries will be similar to that of the western countries. Despite the forces that push business to adapt e-commerce as a means to sell goods and products, the manner in which customers make purchases is similar in countries from these two regions. For instance, there has been an increased usage of smartphones which comes in conjunction with an increase in the overall internet audience from the regions. Yuldashev writes that consumers are scaling up to more modern technology that allows for mobile marketing.
However, the percentage of smartphone and internet users who make online purchases is expected to vary in the first few years. It will be independent on the willingness of the people to adopt this new trend (The Statistics Portal). For example, UAE has the greatest smartphone penetration of 73.8 per cent and has 91.9 per cent of its population has access to the internet. On the other hand, smartphone penetration in Europe has been reported to be at 64.7 per cent (The Statistics Portal). Regardless, the disparity in percentage between these regions is expected to level out in future because e-commerce technology is expected to grow to allow for more users.

The e-commerce business within these two regions will result in competition. Government bodies at the country level will enhance their measures and strategies to ensure sustainability and [[consumer protection]] (Krings, et al.). These increased measures will raise the environmental and social standards in the countries, factors that will determine the success of the e-commerce market in these countries. For example, an adoption of tough sanctions will make it difficult for companies to enter the e-commerce market while lenient sanctions will allow ease of companies. As such, the future trends between GCC countries and the Western countries will be independent of these sanctions (Krings, et al.). These countries need to make rational conclusions in coming up with effective sanctions.

=== India ===
{{Main article|E-commerce in India}}
India has an Internet user base of about 460 million as of December 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keelery |first=Sandhya |date=7 July 2020 |title=Internet usage in India – statistics & facts |url=https://www.statista.com/topics/2157/internet-usage-in-india/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230114442/https://www.statista.com/topics/2157/internet-usage-in-india/ |archive-date=30 December 2017 |access-date=4 May 2021 |website=[[Statista]]}}</ref> Despite being the third largest user base in the world, the penetration of the Internet is low compared to markets like the United States, United Kingdom or France but is growing at a much faster rate, adding around six million new entrants every month.{{Citation needed|date = October 2015}} In India, cash on delivery is the most preferred payment method, accumulating 75% of the e-retail activities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pasumarthy |first=Phani Bhaskar |date=December 2016 |title=AFFECT OF DEMONETIZATION ON E-COMMERCE |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311518414 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026152116/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311518414_AFFECT_OF_DEMONETIZATION_ON_E-COMMERCE |archive-date=26 October 2020 |access-date=4 May 2021 |website=[[ResearchGate]]}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date = October 2015}} The India retail market is expected to rise from 2.5% in 2016 to 5% in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 2016 |title=Fulfilled!:India's e-commerce retail logistics growth story |url=https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2016/08/E-commerce-retail-logistics-India.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508153115/https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/in/pdf/2016/08/E-commerce-retail-logistics-India.pdf |archive-date=8 May 2020 |access-date=4 May 2021 |website=[[KPMG]]}}</ref>

=== Brazil ===
In 2013, Brazil's e-commerce was growing quickly with retail e-commerce sales expected to grow at a double-digit pace through 2014. By 2016, eMarketer expected retail e-commerce sales in Brazil to reach $17.3 billion.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 March 2013 |title=More Buyers Join Brazil's Robust Ecommerce Market |newspaper=[[eMarketer]] |url=https://www.emarketer.com/Article/More-Buyers-Join-Brazils-Robust-Ecommerce-Market/1009725 |url-status=live |access-date=4 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804174125/https://www.emarketer.com/Article/More-Buyers-Join-Brazils-Robust-Ecommerce-Market/1009725 |archive-date=4 August 2020}}</ref>