The growth of Chinese e-commerce market has been revised up, considering the positive push due to coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, according to estimates by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

As consumers are increasingly shifting away from in-store to online spending to avoid exposure to disease vectors, e-commerce payments are set to record a steep increase in 2020.

An analysis of GlobalData’s E-Commerce Analytics reveals that e-commerce market in China is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.1% between 2019 and 2023 to reach CNY20.1 trillion (US$2.9 trillion) by 2023.

Nikhil Reddy, Banking and Payments Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The lockdown in the country led to the overall decline in consumer spending. This is, however, partially offset by a rise in online spending, as wary consumers stay at home and use online channels to purchase goods (concentrating on groceries, medical supplies, and other essentials, as well as entertainment). Online payment solutions to the likes of Alipay, and WeChat Pay could potentially benefit from the current situation.”

E-commerce companies are getting benefited by this trend. For instance, online shopping giant JD.com observed an increase in its fresh food sales by over 200%, during the 10-day period ended on 2 February 2020, compared with the same period in the previous year.

Reddy concludes: “The Covid-19 outbreak will have greater implications on Chinese consumers’ buying behavior pushing them to embrace e-commerce. The market is anticipated to continue its growth exceeding the previous forecast levels, riding on the current digital wave.”