sandalwood

Abstract: The global e-commerce market is entering a new phase of rapid growth. The pandemic significantly accelerated the development of digital infrastructure and online shopping habits overseas. Against a backdrop of profound geopolitical shifts, frequent conflicts, and rising uncertainty, e-commerce has demonstrated remarkable resilience and potential—leveraging centralized resources and transcending geographical boundaries. In recent years, as China's e-commerce DNA has more deeply penetrated and widely diffused globally, the industry has achieved unprecedented expansion, amplifying the network effects of platform-based e-commerce worldwide.

Global E-commerce Accelerates:
Multi-Polar Platform Landscape Emerges

According to Sandalwood’s global e-commerce data, global smartphone online sales grew 8% in 2024, accounting for 25% of total sales. In 2025, while the overall smartphone market is expected to remain flat, online sales will grow over 5%, further increasing online penetration.

Excluding the three largest online markets—China, the U.S., and India—overseas smartphone online sales are projected to grow 9% in 2025, indicating faster e-commerce expansion in smaller and emerging markets.

Beyond smartphones, online penetration for other consumer electronics and 3C products is already very high:

• Tablets: nearly 50% online in 2024
• Wearables: over 60%
• TWS earbuds: as high as 70%
  All are expected to maintain strong online growth in 2025.

Globally, leading platforms like Shopee, Mercadolibre, and Amazon continue strong growth. Meanwhile, TikTok Shop and Temu are rapidly rising through innovation, driving consumer trends among younger users. These giants are also fueling the development of regional and local platforms, creating a multi-polar, thriving ecosystem:

• Europe: Otto (Germany), Argos (UK), Fnac & Darty (France), Bol (Netherlands), Skrouts (Greece)
• Eastern Europe: Alza, Allegro (Poland), Emag (Romania)
• Russia: Ozon, WB, Yandex
• Middle East: Noon; Trendyol & Hepsiburada (Turkey)
• India: Flipkart, Daraz (Pakistan)
• Japan & Korea: Rakuten, Coupang
• Central Asia: Kaspi
• Africa: Jumia, Takealot (South Africa)—still small but showing growth momentum
• Southeast Asia: Alongside major regional platforms, local players like Blibli (Indonesia) and Tiki (Vietnam) are emerging

This surge of platforms is accelerating global e-commerce, especially in overseas markets—many of which bear the influence and operational DNA of Chinese e-commerce models.

Two Decades of Leapfrog Growth:
China’s E-commerce Emerges as a Global Force

Over the past two decades, Chinese e-commerce has undergone leapfrog development, rising to become a core pillar of global retail. By 2024, physical goods e-commerce sales reached RMB 13.08 trillion—about 36% of the global total—and five of the world’s top ten platforms are Chinese. China is not only the largest e-commerce market but also exports an integrated ecosystem encompassing supply chains, payments, logistics, finance, and cloud computing, reshaping the global retail landscape through initiatives like the Belt and Road.

China’s rise began with the evolution of its platform ecosystems. Leveraging network effects, platforms rapidly aggregated users and merchants, evolving from transaction enablers to “ecosystem orchestrators.” The integration of digital infrastructure—payments, logistics, finance, and cloud—created a powerful “platform + ecosystem” model with strong scalability. As the “world’s factory,” China’s comprehensive manufacturing base enables end-to-end integration in sectors like 3C electronics, consumer goods, and apparel, ensuring product variety and cost advantages.

Supportive institutions and technology further fueled growth. Early lenient regulation allowed space for innovation, while later policies—such as cross-border e-commerce pilot zones and national digital economy strategies—facilitated global expansion. The widespread adoption of mobile internet and mobile payments enabled consumers to leapfrog the credit card era, giving rise to new models like live-streaming and social commerce, which quickly spread overseas. In essence, Chinese e-commerce combines path dependency (mobile payments replacing credit cards) with path creation (from C2C to AI-driven personalization), forming a distinct model that diverges from Western paradigms.

Unique Competitiveness of China's E-commerce Model

Reconfiguring Global Value Chains

After maturing domestically, Chinese e-commerce has gone global, driven by four key logics:

• Cross-border Amplification of Network Effects:
  SHEIN’s ultra-fast fashion model has taken Europe and the U.S. by storm, while Temu’s low prices and group-buying dynamics have rapidly accumulated users in North America.

• Global Value Chain Restructuring:
  Cross-border e-commerce allows numerous small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to directly reach global consumers, gradually elevating their positions within the value chain.

• Continuous Innovation:
  Live-stream shopping and community group buying originated in China and have been successfully exported overseas, driving innovation across markets.
• Technology and Institutional Synergy:
  Chinese companies leverage AI and big data to optimize inventory and logistics, while adapting flexibly to different legal and cultural environments. This “technology core + local adaptation” strategy gives them a competitive edge.

Supporting this globalization process are several unique advantages of China’s e-commerce model:

• Export of Business Models:
  Platforms like TikTok Shop, Temu, Shopee, and Lazada have replicated the successful experiences of Taobao and Pinduoduo in various markets.

• Manufacturing and Logistics Support:
  The robust manufacturing and logistics systems in China provide strong backing for e-commerce expansion. Examples include SHEIN’s flexible supply chain, Cainiao’s over 40 overseas warehouses, and JD.com’s self-operated services in Europe and the Middle East, showcasing global responsiveness.

• From Manufacturing to Global Brands:
  Chinese tech brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi, DJI, Anker, Insta360, and Tzoo are making significant inroads into global markets. “Made in China” is rapidly evolving into “Chinese Brands.”

• Deep Integration of Capital:
  Chinese capital plays a crucial role in global expansion. Alibaba’s investments in Lazada, Trendyol, and Daraz; Tencent’s stake in Shopee’s parent company Sea; JD.com’s acquisition of Ceconomy; and new rounds of overseas acquisitions and self-operated capabilities exemplify this trend. Additionally, Ant Group’s promotion of digital wallets in Southeast Asia and Meituan’s entry into Brazil’s local lifestyle services market highlight how capital and partnerships accelerate the globalization of the Chinese e-commerce model.

The Third Stage of Global Retail:

The Full Spread of China’s E-commerce DNA

By 2025, the globalization of Chinese e-commerce is no longer just about market expansion—it is reshaping the very paradigm of global retail.

For consumers, “borderless shopping” is becoming reality: lower prices, faster delivery, broader product selection, and more flexible payments.

For enterprises, global retail has entered a new era of “borderless competition and collaboration.” As Chinese platforms expand globally and Chinese firms go overseas, local businesses are accelerating integration into global value chains—while local players gain opportunities to grow regionally or even globally through partnerships.

For the industry, e-commerce penetration will continue rising, moving toward a new landscape defined by online-offline integration, widespread AI adoption, and end-to-end supply chain coordination.

Looking ahead, the “third stage” of global e-commerce is, in essence, the global diffusion of the Chinese model. A powerful combination—China’s leading e-commerce capabilities, its high-efficiency, quality supply chain, rising Chinese brands, and proactive overseas investments by Chinese capital—is driving global e-commerce with unprecedented depth and scale. This force is shaping a new global retail order characterized by China-led innovation, efficiency-first principles, resilience-building, and inclusive accessibility.

Conclusion:
Chinese e-commerce, built on decades of accumulation, is seizing the opportunities of digitalization and globalization with accelerating impact. Behind global e-commerce growth lies the continuous export of Chinese experience. What we are witnessing is not only the rise of Chinese platforms, but also their ability to share opportunities and co-create the future with the world.

The future of global retail will be defined by China-driven digitization—more efficient, more inclusive, and more resilient. This marks not only the arrival of the “China E-commerce Era,” but also the beginning of a new, shared phase of win-win development for global e-commerce.