The Landscape of B2C E-commerce Marketplaces in East Asia

The COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures to prevent its spread have strongly impacted many economies of the Forum for East Asia–Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC), altering the activities and business models of companies, especially micro, small, and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs), and shopping habits. In fact, e-commerce showed unprecedented growth as businesses and consumers turned to digital channels to maintain their activities.

In this context, there is an urgent need for governments to step up their assistance to businesses, in particular MSMEs, to reap the benefits from the rapidly growing domestic and international e-commerce markets. However, there is a lack of timely data and national statistical capacity that allows for the monitoring of trends in both domestic and international e-commerce marketplaces.

To fill this data gap, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the International Trade Center (ITC) and the Amsterdam University of Applied Science undertook a regional study to create a unique database mapping the traffic volumes and characteristics of a selection of Asian marketplaces. During the webinar, speakers will demonstrate the Asian Marketplace Explorer (AME) dashboard and delve into key insights from a regional report and country-specific briefs that were created using this database. Finally, a moderator-led panel discussion will foster dialogue among researchers, policymakers, e-commerce experts and private sector professionals regarding the key findings of the study and the opportunities created by e-commerce.

The report and country briefs are available at The Landscape Of B2C E-Commerce Marketplaces In East Asia | ESCAP (unescap.org).