2. Rapid growth of online retail
Secondly, the rapid growth of online retail has led to an increase in the proportion of online sales year by year.
In 2021, online retail sales reached 13.09 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.1%, accounting for 24.5% of total social consumption. Although the proportion of online physical retail sales has declined in 2022 and 2023, it still remains at around 27%. According to statistics, from January to July 2024, online retail sales of physical goods increased by 8.7% year-on-year, accounting for 25.6% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods, and this proportion continues to rise. This trend shows that online sales have become an important part of the retail market, and its growth rate has exceeded that of offline retail. The rapid growth of online retail has led to the main reasons for the year-on-year increase in the proportion of online sales, including the following aspects:
1. Policy-driven: The country and some provinces and cities have issued a number of industry policies, such as the "Three-Year Action Plan for Digital Commerce (2024-2026)" issued by the Ministry of Commerce in 2024, which proposes to strengthen the digital industrial chain and supply chain, cultivate a number of B2B platforms that deeply cultivate vertical industries, and build a number of characteristic digital and intelligent industrial belts based on e-commerce industrial clusters to drive the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. These policy measures have effectively promoted the development of online retail.
2. Changes in consumer behavior: With the popularization of Internet technology and the improvement of logistics systems, online shopping has become more and more convenient. Consumers can quickly find the products they need through search engines and make quick purchases through online payment, logistics and distribution. This convenience has attracted more and more consumers to choose online shopping.
3. Development of mobile payment and financial technology: The development of mobile payment and financial technology provides consumers with safer and more convenient payment methods, further promoting the development of the online retail market. Consumers can make online payments more conveniently, which improves their satisfaction and loyalty in online shopping.
