E-commerce in Taiwan, China

E-commerce

Internet access

It is estimated that by 2017, 84.8% of Taiwan’s population had access to the internet. The majority of Taiwan internet users log on using a mobile phone (68.8%), personal computer (56.3%), notebook (22.4%) or tablet PC (17%). According to surveys carried out by the National Development Council of Taiwan, household use of the internet rose 2.6% in 2017 from the previous year. Among the internet using population, more than 97% used wireless or mobile internet, which means that less than 3% of internet users restrict their internet use to landline connections at the home or office. The most popular search engines in terms of the market share are Google (89.9%), Yahoo! (8.99%), Bing (0.9%), Baidu (0.12%), MSN (0.03%) and Shenma (0.02%).

E-commerce market

The e-commerce market in Taiwan has grown at a rapid pace over the past few years, with a market value of US$ 37.6 billion in 2016, and a 5-year average growth rate of 10-20%. It is predicted that Taiwan’s online retail platforms will eventually overtake sales in physical retail stores, accounting for more than half of the multi-billion-dollar retail sector. Taiwan’s e-commerce penetration rate is one of the highest in the world, which naturally entails a large market of sophisticated consumers who are familiar with global trends. Taiwan’s e-commerce market possesses a comprehensive infrastructure, and the money flow and distribution service providers make transactions easy. Recent changes in Taiwan’s e-commerce include incorporating live broadcast promotion on social media, expanding service and payment options and using big data and artificial intelligence to combine e-commerce platforms with traditional retail outlets.

Social media

In 2016, Taiwan recorded a high social media penetration rate estimated at 77%. Taiwan also leads in Facebook and Twitter penetration with a rate of 67%. Social media have become extremely important to marketing products sold online in Taiwan. Facebook is the preferred method of digital marketing, with 63.4% of online vendors choosing to use it as a major marketing tool. The most popular social networks are, by market share, Facebook (92.75%), Youtube (2.96%), Twitter (1.1%), Pinterest (1.06%), Instagram (0.86%) and Tumblr (0.4%).