If you are not in the fourth industrial revolution you have missed the boat – particularly in the Far East. This is according to Che Smith, Asia and Middle East senior international trade manager at Wesgro, who says Asia is set for explosive e-commerce growth. And the reasons are twofold – the growing middle class and expanding use of the internet. While there’s been significant e-commerce penetration in bigger markets like China and South Korea, smaller markets such as Thailand are fast catching on. The importance of e-commerce in the East was clear in November when Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba generated a record 168.2 billion yuan ($25.3 billion) in sales on its annual Single’s Day, a whopping 39% more than last year. Single’s Day is an annual Chinese festival celebrating being single. According to reports Alibaba handled 1.48 billion transactions during the 24-hour period of Single’s Day this year.
