Asia-Pacific E-Commerce Rises VIP VIP VIP

Asia-Pacific E-Commerce Rises

FEBRUARY 6, 2008

Online travel is big in China and India.

Japan and South Korea are known for having high Internet and mobile phone penetration, so it's not surprising that the countries lead the Asia-Pacific region in business-to-consumer e-commerce sales. In fact, such sales are growing across the region.

B2C e-commerce sales, including travel, for the five major countries that eMarketer covers in the Asia-Pacific region totaled an estimated $73.3 billion in 2007. That is up 24% over 2006.

eMarketer forecasts that online sales will more than double by reaching $168.7 billion in 2011.

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What is new is that market share is moving toward Australia, India and especially China. China’s share of regional B2C e-commerce will grow more than threefold from 4.1% in 2006 to 14.3% by 2011.

Shifting market share is a reflection of differences in e-commerce growth rates.

China’s B2C e-commerce market is on the fast track, with eMarketer expecting sales to grow at a 58.5% average annual rate from 2006 to 2011. India is also a high flyer with sales forecast to grow at a 48.8% annual rate. At the low end, South Korea’s B2C e-commerce sales will grow by 13.3% over the same period. Between 2006 and 2011, the aggregate CAGR for the five countries will be 23.3%.

Online travel is the largest e-commerce sales category in most major countries. For the same group of five countries, plus New Zealand, online leisure and unmanaged business travel sales totaled about $17.7 billion in 2007 and are forecast to rise to $41.7 billion by 2011.

eMarketer forecasts that from 2006 to 2011 online travel sales will grow at a 24.8% annual rate, higher than the 23.3% rate for B2C e-commerce. This indicates that travel is one of the key drivers of e-commerce sales in the APAC region.

In China and India, online-travel spending drives B2C e-commerce sales, and it accounts for a majority of total sales. Consumers are less wary of buying services like train or airline tickets online, and sellers can avoid the logistics and delivery problems associated with physical goods.

Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst at eMarketer, said that such preferences underscore how e-commerce in the region has a vast amount of growth ahead.

"E-commerce in these markets will have come of age when consumers start buying more expensive, high-touch categories such as apparel, home furnishings and jewelry," Mr. Grau said.

Learn what it takes for Web merchants to succeed across the Pacific. Read eMarketer's Asia-Pacific B2C E-Commerce: Focus on China and India report.

Hong Kong Media Buying Service Opens New York Branch

March 8th 2007 - Adotas

China New Media Advertising, an online and print media advertising buying service based out of Hong Kong, announced the opening of its New York office today.

A limited liability company, CNMA is owned by IMS Companies.

With access to 150 websites and 75 print business publications, CNMA will provide access to its Mainland Chinese Network. Media buying services and business information to global customers and prospects are also included in CNMA’s offerings along with Chinese language translation.

“China’s population of Internet users has risen by 30 percent over the past year to 132 million, and these are just a couple of fantastic stats about this fast-growing marketplace. From day one, our network of Chinese websites can deliver up to 200 million banner impressions per day, reaching 19 million visitors to this unique website network daily,” stated CNMA president Hector Botero.

Within the 75 trade publications, B2B advertisers are allowed to purchase an entire network or select business newspapers by industry.

Botero added, “Advertisers need expert help to access China and they also need help to efficiently reach their target market. It’s virtually impossible to plan, execute and measure on-line and print advertising campaigns without a local presence and inside China knowledge.”

Maurice Johnson, who holds over 20 years of experience in international advertising, will head the New York office. “Our goal at CNMA is to provide — in China — the resources, knowledge and service that international advertiser’s need,” he said.

24/7 reports strong 4Q, plans to expand into Asia

http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/ad-serving/40253.html

By Cara Wood
March 2nd, 2007

International digital marketing agency 24/7 Real Media Inc. yesterday announced its fourth quarter revenue of $60 million, an increase of 44 percent over the $41.7 million reported in 2005. Total revenue for the year was reported at $200.2 million.

The 10-year-old New York-based company, which has about 400 employees in 20 offices around the world, also recently announced plans to deepen its search engine marketing partnership called K.K. 24-7 Search with Dentsu, an alliance it struck in Japan last year. This new venture will establish operations to service advertising markets in China, India, Korea, Thailand and Taiwan.

“Our home base is really throughout the regions of the word and not based in any particular market,” said Jonathan K. Hsu, chief operating officer and chief financial officer at 24/7, speaking to the increasing global ambitions of the company.

International operations made up 61 percent of the total revenue for the quarter. The company attributed this growth in part to strong performance increases in Korea (72 percent) and Britain (42 percent).

Compared to fourth quarter 2005, revenues increased across the board in three product segments: media (39 percent), search (59 percent) and technology (21 percent).

In forward-looking statements, the company projected first quarter revenue for 2007 to be between $58 million and $59 million. The agency raised the guidance for the full year 2007 revenue to fall between $255 million to $265 million.

The company also expressed potential slower growth in the search business during 2007 due to a competitive job market and the potential loss of key employees. The outlook during a March 1 conference call was positive.

“We are winning larger search clients,” Mr. Hsu said. “We have been able to manage [called K.K. 24-7 Search] to profitability rather quickly, which is a testament to our proven business model, and lend support to the planned expansion.”

Technology investments and global expansions were key features of the company’s strategy moving forward.

“We’re going to continue to explore and engage in video and mobile technologies,” said David J. Moore, chairman and CEO of 24/7 Real Media. “We want to work to ensure that our technology meets standards of innovation.”