The realm of e-commerce grows more and more with every passing year, with investors and entrepreneurs around the world cashing in on an array of products and industries. As the market begins to flood, where does opportunity sit in 2019? Which countries and industries are advancing quickest in terms of e-commerce revenue and interest?
UK-based Card and merchant account comparison service Merchant Machine has come out with a report that focuses on the nations and industries where e-commerce has become saturated, and where gaps in the market still exist. While Indonesia, Mexico and the Philippines are dominating the top positions, India has been placed at the 9th position ahead of China, reveals the findings of the report.
Rising E-commerce Nations
The report said that widespread advancements in technology have helped to bring many countries into the online world.
Indonesia – With an online population of over 100 million people, it's no surprise to see Indonesia feature on the list. Last year they recorded growth of 78% with travel and clothing as their dominant sectors for spending.
Mexico – For years Mexico has been seen as a burgeoning powerhouse in the online sphere and with $16.22 billion in e-commerce spending and 59% overall growth, it appears they're only continuing this remarkable growth.
Philippines – The 2nd of 3 Southeast Asian countries in the top 10, the Philippines has also seen significant movements in their e-commerce industries. The consumer electronics and clothes retail sectors have been the biggest contributors to their 51% growth. Other notable countries that have found themselves in this year's top 10 are South America's Colombia, as well as the UAE, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Israel, India and China.
Internet Investing
As well as being able to determine the sectors that contribute the most to e-commerce economies, the report also found the fastest rising industries.
- Money in Medicine – In our research, the number of investors (13,559) were outranked by the startups that exist in the sector (21,072), illustrating a potential gap in the market for investment.
- Ticket to the Top – For every ‘Event Ticket' e-commerce startup there are over 32 investors, making it the most in-demand industry in our research, from the view of the backer
- Play the Game – The ‘Video Game' industry has thrived in recent years, and with over 9 investors for every startup, it ranks as the 2nd highest in terms of demand.
Supply and (Search) Demand
Businesses are often founded solely on their demand, the report compared the growth of internet searches with revenue to measure any correlation.
- The Rise of Restaurant Delivery – Out of all those we analysed, the restaurant delivery industry has endured the highest increase in Google searches in the last year. With 95% more searches this year, the industry has also enjoyed a revenue increase of 15%.
- Alcohol Anomaly – The Alcohol e-commerce sector has seen a moderate increase in Google searches this year 22% which is outdone by a sizeable spike in revenue (32%).
Top 10 Rising E-commerce Countries
To put those numbers in some perspective the UK's E-commerce market is currently growing around 15% annually, with an online population of around 60 million people, who on average spend $4,023 annually, for a total market size of roughly $203 Billion.
Investor Opportunities
An industry can become overcrowded for both business owners and investors. The report compared the number of investors with the number of startups in a specific sector to where the opportunity lies.
E-commerce Demand
Startups are often pioneered as a result of a demand for a service. This demand can be represented through search trend data, which report compared over the last year as well as revenue growth to show how these gaps in the market become quickly occupied.
