Taibei’s Market Intelligence Center predicts e-shopping growth in Taiwan

E-commerce market in Taiwan is predicted to grow 32.3% above the previous year to NT$243 billion (US$7.29 billion) as reported by a local research and consulting agency. The study showed that lower prices and more product choices are the key reasons inducing people to go shopping online. It also revealed the groups of customers that are more inclined to make purchases via the Internet.

According to the forecasts business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions are expected to account for NT$136 billion of the total, while consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions will likely take up the remaining NT$107 billion. The Market Intelligence Center (MIC), Taipei’s leading technology research and consulting house, which conducted the study, notes that B2C transactions make up for about 4% of overall retail business.

The most popular shopping categories in the country are fashion and beauty with compounded average growth rates (CAGR) of 88% and 49% respectively. Interestingly, the research agency notes that consumer electronics and travel have lower CAGRs of 25% and 21% respectively. Apart from shopping categories another factor is age group. Shoppers aged 20 to 29 averagely spend NT$8,814 online while people aged over 50 spend NT$19,968 on average. Males give preference to direct purchases while women like bidding online.