China online retail reached ¥15.5T in 2024 — and nearly 1B people shop online
China online retail reached ¥15.5T in 2024 — and nearly 1B people shop online
China is the world’s largest e-commerce arena — and the numbers explain why pricing competition there is built around promotions, cadence, and mechanics, not only list prices.
The core dataset (2024–2025)
2024: record-scale online retail
China’s National Bureau of Statistics reports that online retail sales reached ¥15.52 trillion in 2024, up 7.2% year-over-year. Within that, online retail sales of physical goods were ¥13.08 trillion, up 6.5%, accounting for 26.8% of total retail sales of consumer goods.
2024: online shopping is near-universal among netizens
CNNIC’s internet development reports show:
- By June 2024, 905 million people were online shoppers (82.3% of internet users).
- By December 2024, online shopping users reached 974 million (87.9% of internet users).
2024 H1: momentum was strong
MOFCOM data (H1 2024) cites ¥7.1 trillion in online retail sales, +9.8% YoY, showing the engine was already running early in the year.
2025: growth continues
NBS updates for Jan–Oct 2025 report online retail sales of ¥12.79 trillion, +9.6% YoY.
Why this matters for competitor price tracking
At China scale, “price” is a system:
- Promo windows are longer and often overlap (festival-style sales, rolling events).
- Coupon stacking is common (platform coupons + store coupons + payment/fulfillment perks).
- Delivery promises and “instant” fulfillment can be the real conversion lever.
- Livestream commerce and creator-driven offers can trigger rapid, short-lived deal states.
If you track only a single number on a PDP, you miss the levers that actually move demand.
What to track (minimum viable for China-style markets)
-
Effective price
- Base price + coupon prompts + cart discounts + shipping/fees.
-
Promo state
- Badge text, strike-through price, “limited time” language, bundle gifts.
-
Cadence
- Detect event windows (start/end) and compare offers within the same window.
-
Fulfillment
- Delivery ETA, free-shipping thresholds, “same day/next day” claims.
A practical takeaway
China’s data says: almost everyone is shopping online, and trillions of yuan flow through digital retail each year.
Competitive pricing here is about mechanics (promos + fulfillment), so your tracking must capture the offer, not just the sticker price.
Official sources
- National Bureau of Statistics of China: Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods in 2024 (online retail 15.52T yuan; physical goods 13.08T; share 26.8%)
- Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) via State Council English site: H1 2024 online retail sales 7.1T yuan (+9.8% YoY)
- CNNIC: 54th Statistical Report on China’s Internet Development (June 2024 online shopping users 905M; 82.3% of netizens)
- CNNIC: 55th Statistical Report on China’s Internet Development (Dec 2024 online shopping users 974M; 87.9% of netizens)
- National Bureau of Statistics of China: Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods in October 2025 (Jan–Oct 2025 online retail 12.79T yuan; +9.6% YoY)
Latest research briefs
All researchECB’s Daily Price Dataset: millions of web-scraped prices show why ‘effective price’ beats sticker price
Eurosystem research is building daily web-scraped price datasets (DPD/PRISMA) with millions of observations across major euro-area retailers. For competitive pricing, this proves you need landed price, promos, and availability — not only a single number.
EU influencer sweep 2024: 97% posted ads, only 1 in 5 disclosed them properly
An EU-wide CPC sweep screened 576 influencers. Nearly all posted commercial content, but only ~20% consistently disclosed ads. Why this matters for pricing & promo intelligence.
EU online shopping adoption 2014–2024: from 59% to 77% of internet users (Eurostat)
Eurostat data shows the share of EU internet users buying online rose from 59% (2014) to 77% (2024). Country split + implications for competitor price monitoring.
EU sweep 2025: 52% of second-hand online sellers may break consumer-law basics
A CPC Network sweep checked 356 second-hand online traders in 2025. 185 (52%) were flagged. The details reveal why “price” is rarely just a number: returns, legal guarantee, and green claims shape effective value.
US e-commerce hit ~16% of retail in 2025 while online prices kept falling
U.S. Census data puts e-commerce at ~16% of retail sales in 2025, while Adobe’s Digital Price Index reported online prices down 2.9% YoY in Oct 2024 (26 straight months of YoY declines). What this combination implies for competitor price tracking.