China's mobile shopping market is skyrocketing, with the top three e-commerce companies taking most of the spoils, according to a recent report from iResearch.
According to iResearch, which focuses on China's Internet industry, the value of China's mobile shopping market reached $6 billion (37.52 billion yuan) in Q2 2013. That's a growth of 181% when compared to the same time last year, and 41% greater when compared to Q1 2013, according to the company.
iResearch credits the mobile shopping growth in part to June 18 e-commerce promotional efforts and greater company investments in mobile to upgrade the mobile shopping experience for their customers.
While the overall penetration rate for mobile shopping hasn't sped up that quickly, iResearch says it nonetheless grew by nearly 9% in Q2, up 1% from Q1. Growing smartphone ownership and 3G Internet access help increase that penetration rate.
So far, the top three e-commerce companies -- Alibaba's Taobao, JD.com, and Tencent -- captured more than 80% of the mobile shopping market, according to iResearch data. Taobao Wireless captured 76% of the overall market. iResearch says that this is in part due to a consumer-to-business social product called WeiTao that Taobao launched in April.
While JD.com, Tencent, and Suning.com all increased their investment in mobile shopping, their market share in PC-based e-commerce remained stable.
