The 20-year development process of China's e-commerce: a complete evolution from germination to maturity

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The development history of China's e-commerce

The 20-year changes of China's e-commerce, from the embryonic period to the mature stage, have gone through multiple stages of development and change. These stages have witnessed the gradual transition of e-commerce from the initial B2B model to today's mobile shopping and new retail models.

△ Embryonic period (1997-1999)

In the embryonic stage, due to the relatively low level of informatization and the small base of online shoppers, the public's understanding of e-commerce is limited. Domestic e-commerce websites are still in a state of exploration and embryony, and their main business is to assist small and medium-sized enterprises in B2B foreign trade transactions. During this period, e-commerce platforms such as China Chemical Network, 8848, Alibaba and eBay were born one after another.

△ Infrastructure period (2000-2007)

With the continuous progress of Internet technology, the progress of Internet technology during the infrastructure construction period and the promotion of the SARS epidemic have promoted the infrastructure construction of C2C and e-commerce. The number of online shoppers is gradually increasing, and the concept of e-commerce is beginning to become well-known to the public. Major e-commerce platforms have emerged, C-end demand has begun to form, and online shopping has gradually become a part of people's daily life. From 2000 to 2002, the e-commerce industry underwent major changes due to the bursting of the Internet bubble and other factors, and more than one-third of websites disappeared in this turmoil. However, it was also a turning point in the development of the industry, with HC, Excellence and the China Electronic Commerce Association being established during this period, and eBAY was also merged. From 2003 to 2005, China was affected by the SARS epidemic, but this prompted a large number of netizens to gradually accept online shopping as a new way of shopping, which in turn promoted the rapid development of the C2C model. During this period, Alibaba founded Taobao and launched Aliwangwang and Alipay, which provided a more convenient means of communication and payment for online shopping. Tencent also followed suit and launched Paipai.com, which, together with eBay, formed a three-legged trend in the C2C market. In the same year, Jingdong also began to get involved in the field of e-commerce self-management, however, due to the small number of domestic netizens at that time, user consumption concerns, logistics and distribution facilities are not perfect, coupled with the proliferation of fakes, weak consumer brand awareness and other problems, the development of the e-commerce industry is still facing many challenges. With the support of national policies from 2006 to 2007, the integrity problem has been effectively solved, and the infrastructure such as logistics and payment has been further improved. In this context, the proportion of online shopping 3C products has risen rapidly, and JD.com has gradually formed a market influence by virtue of its strong self-operated logistics strength. This stage can be regarded as the infrastructure period of the e-commerce industry.

△ Growth period (2008-2012)

The period from 2008 to 2012 witnessed the rapid growth of e-commerce, and with the popularization of 3G technology and smart phones, mobile e-commerce began to emerge. From 2008 to 2009, the online transaction model with Chinese characteristics gradually took shape, and the competition in the field of e-commerce became increasingly fierce. With the commercial use of 3G technology, the number of online shopping users has exceeded 100 million. During this period, the B2C platform Tmall came into being, and the Tao brand began to emerge. At the same time, the proportion of consumption in non-standard categories such as clothing, shoes and bags, and home furnishings is also rising. The special sale e-commerce Vipshop and Dangdang.com made a profit, and the Double 11 shopping carnival also began. In addition, COFCO womai and Suning Tesco have also begun to set foot in the field of e-commerce, while JD.com has expanded from 3C products to full-category operations. From 2010 to 2012, more and more traditional enterprises and funds poured into the e-commerce field. Offline enterprises have begun to deploy e-commerce, and the number of netizens and the logistics and express delivery industry have shown explosive growth. At this stage, the e-commerce industry began to move towards mobile. Alibaba has launched mobile Taobao and Juhuasuan, and has established a large Taobao logistics system. At the same time, Alipay has also obtained relevant licenses, and Vipshop and Dangdang are listed in the United States. In addition, the regulation of e-commerce has also been legislated for the first time, providing a legal guarantee for the healthy development of the industry.

△ Maturity period (2013-2015)

Mobile e-commerce entered a mature stage from 2013 to 2015, and the integration of online and offline and the expansion of emerging fields marked the comprehensive development of the industry. With the rapid development of the mobile Internet and the widespread popularity of smartphones, mobile e-commerce has ushered in a golden age of development. At this stage, Ali was successfully listed and led to the listing boom of domestic e-commerce. By 2015, the scale of mobile transactions had surpassed that of the PC side and became the mainstream of the e-commerce industry. Ali further launched Cainiao Logistics and launched Tmall Global. Amazon has also launched the "Direct Mail China" business, and cross-border e-commerce brands such as Vipshop International, NetEase Kaola, and JD.com Overseas have also emerged, further enriching consumers' shopping choices. The traffic of e-commerce platforms tends to be stable, the online growth dividend is gradually weakening, and the vertical market segment has become a new area for deep cultivation. In 2016, the growth rate of the mobile shopping market fell below 100% for the first time, and the growth of e-commerce MAU (monthly active users) hit a bottleneck. In this context, Alibaba proposed the concept of new retail at the end of 2016, leading the e-commerce industry to expand into the offline market. At present, industry leaders have gradually emerged, and the operating model is becoming more and more mature. E-commerce companies not only continue to enrich product categories, optimize logistics and after-sales services, but also actively expand emerging areas such as cross-border e-commerce and rural e-commerce, and at the same time deepen vertical e-commerce markets such as maternal and child, medical, home improvement and local life services. While there are a large number of long-tail players, the market segment is also becoming increasingly competitive.