The Philippines and India will lead the world in retail ecommerce sales growth this year, with respective increases of 25.9% and 25.5%. Countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia will make up most of the top 10 list, while the last spot will go to the US, the only advanced economy to slide into the rankings, with 15.9% growth.

Quick commerce booms in India: Even as investors cool off on rapid delivery in other markets, Indian startups are raking in cash as they vie to dominate the country’s nascent but booming food delivery industry. As in China, quick commerce is easier to execute profitably in India due to high population density in urban centers and lower labor costs.

Ikea India similarly plans to source more products locally, per Reuters. Others have shifted manufacturing beyond China. The US import value from China decreased from 66% of the total in 2018 to 55% at the end of 2021, per Kearney’s China Diversification Index.

For example, in November 2021, Western Union unveiled its shopping platform WU Shop in Germany and Austria (with additional rollouts planned), helping to advance its digital business. Last year, MoneyGram launched “MoneyGram as a Service,” its payment as a service product, which could generate more volume and overall revenues for the company. 

Additionally, Japan, South Korea, and India are also planning their own lunar missions, per Bloomberg. At the same time, 19 countries have joined the US’s proposed Artemis Accords, which would govern lunar activities, including allowing nations to carve out designated areas as “safety zones,” per Bloomberg.

Payments Ecosystem: This year will reveal how providers must adapt to lasting pandemic-driven digitization across payments channels, ranging from in-store retail to B2B ecommerce.

Ecommerce. Card-not-present debit volume grew 21% annually in 2020, per Pulse; if it keeps pace, it could beat out overall ecommerce gains in the year to come. This pandemic bump will persist: Debit’s share of digital card transaction value—where credit has historically reigned—will remain above pre-pandemic levels through 2023, per our forecast. New access.

This is especially true for food delivery, as the widespread return to in-person shopping and dining combined with inflation driving consumers to reassess their spending causes pandemic-era behaviors to fall by the wayside.

While BNPL currently makes up around 1% of US retail ecommerce dollars—per our calculation based on BNPL estimates from consultancy Oliver Wyman and our ecommerce forecast—fast growth means merchants are noticing an opportunity to grab sales.

The news: India-based credit card startup Slice will enable the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India’s mobile bank-to-bank instant payments system, on its forthcoming app so users can make UPI transactions, sources familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.

State-owned entities in China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia, and South Korea have exploration licenses from the ISA, per Salon. Why we’re watching this: The decision about whether to mine the oceans will have major implications for mineral resources used in batteries for EVs, renewable energy systems, and electronics.