According to research of the Taipei-based Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC) conducted as part of the ITIS project, Taiwan's online shopping market scale is forecast to reach NT$311.6 billion (US$9.46 billion; US$1=NT$32.95) in 2009, growing 30.4% compared to 2008. In this market, scale of the C2C segment is forecast to amount to NT$142.7 billion (US$4.33 billion) in 2009, up approximately 35.2% compared to 2008. The scale of the B2C segment is forecast to reach NT$168.8 billion (U$5.12 billion), up approximately 26.5%. These figures show that C2C market growth is expected to outpace B2C growth in 2009. The gap between the two market segments' shares of the total online shopping market in Taiwan is also becoming smaller.
Three business types can be distinguished in the Taiwanese online shopping market: B2C, C2C, and B2B2C. In the B2C business model, online stores sell directly to consumers. This model is mainly operated by medium- to large-sized companies featuring high brand-name recognition; working people are the main consumer segment for this model. In the C2C business model individuals or online stores sell directly to consumers; this model is mainly used by small- to medium-sized companies and individual sellers; the majority of C2C business consists of online auctions, and students are the main consumer segment. In the B2B2C model, online stores provide their products to online shopping platforms, through which products are then sold to consumers; companies active in this segment are mainly small- and medium-sized companies, and working people and students are the main consumer groups for this market segment.
Looking more closely at the Taiwanese B2C online shopping sector in 2009, the three largest product segments are expected to be travel products (48.5%), clothes and accessories (13%) and IT electronics (10.2%). Together these three product types are expected to account for about 71.6% of the total B2C market in Taiwan. Other key products in the B2C market include cosmetics/beauty and health items (9.3%), tickets (5.6%) and books and magazines (2.4%). According to MIC Senior Industry Analyst Chu-Hui Liu, "it is forecast that clothes and accessories for the first time will overtake IT electronics in the B2C market, with the difference between the two product categories in terms of market scale expected to be as high as NT$4.8 billion (US$145.68 million)." However, MIC's survey also shows that even though the number of vendors that sell clothes and accessories is growing, at the same time there is also a significant number of companies withdrawing from this segment. This highlights the fact that competition in this segment is intense. In the future, after-sales services, credit security and product quality will be key competitive advantages in the market.
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About MIC
Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), based in Taipei, Taiwan, was founded in 1987. MIC is Taiwan's premier IT industry research and consulting firm providing intelligence, in-depth analysis, and strategic consulting services on global IT product and technology trends, focusing on markets and industries in Asia-Pacific. MIC is part of the Institute for Information Industry. https://mic.iii.org.tw/english
About ITIS
The Industry and Technology Intelligence Services (ITIS) project is managed by the Department of Industrial Technology of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs. As part of the project, research is conducted in a variety of fields, including the ICT sector. The project serves both the public and private sector.