Whatâs Going On Here?Online retail giant JD.com reported better-than-expected results late last week, after China proved itâs ready, willing, and able to lean into a digital future. What Does This Mean?The pandemicâs driven a drop-off in window shopping, sure, but JD.comâs been happy to make the most of the spike in Windows shopping: the online retailer reported an expectation-beating 31% sales jump last quarter. Still, investors werenât exactly delighted to hear itâll be spending big to maintain and expand its delivery network, which theyâre worried will eat into the companyâs profit. JD.com might take issue with that, mind you: the second-biggest Chinese ecommerce retailerâs in-house delivery network is exactly what sets it apart from the biggest, Alibaba, which relies on third-party couriers. Why Should I Care?The bigger picture: Chinese ecommerce is where itâs at.
The shift to online shopping is one of the trends thatâs expected to outlast the pandemic, and China looks like itâll be leading the way. This year, in fact, itâs forecast to make 52% of its retail sales online â a big jump from 2019âs 29%, and an even bigger one from the 15% and 13% expected this year in the US and West Europe (tweet this). Better still, that would make China the first country where more sales are made online than in person. And when you consider that favorable backdrop, it might make sense why 92% of authors on data platform Nobias Financial are feeling positive about JD.comâs stock.
For you personally: You can now buy into South Koreaâs biggest ecommerce player.
The country with the next-best ecommerce rate is South Korea, with 29% of retail sales expected to be made online this year. That probably worked in Coupangâs favor late last week: the so-called âAmazon of South Koreaâ â which almost doubled its revenues in the past year â saw its shares climb 41% on its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. | 