China will drive massive global e-commerce transaction growth by 2024

Chinese growth will drive e-commerce transaction values up 43 per cent to US$4.8 trillion by 2024, according to new reporting by Juniper Research.

The research showed Chinese e-commerce undergoing 62 per cent value growth over the next four years, bolstering global e-commerce value along with emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, among others.

The report found that improvements in connectivity will enable the rise of e-commerce in new markets, thus urging payment providers to seek fresh revenue streams in emerging regions to offset slow growth in developed markets – with a particular emphasis on the potential of mobile payments that do not require a linked bank account, as mobile handset penetration is rising faster than banking penetration in young markets.

“The popularity of mobile wallets is having a disruptive effect,” read material released by the firm, “with physical cards becoming less important to the payments market.”

Accordingly, the research suggests that card networks must be proactive, by looking beyond the card, becoming involved in open banking initiatives and delivering omnichannel experiences for users.

“Card networks must leverage their ability to invest in, and forge partnerships with, key players to gain scale in new areas, or they will fail to diversify their revenue streams and will be vulnerable to future disruption,” said research author Susannah Hampton.

Juniper’s findings are published as Strategies for Payment Providers: Industry Trends, Opportunities & Recommendations 2020-2024.