The AI Platform Is Closer Than Some Rivals, but It Still Faces Barriers

The Asia-Pacific retail ecommerce sector is both dynamic and volatile. While China and Japan are slowing, South Korea is growing rapidly, and emerging markets like Southeast Asia and India are showing robust growth and untapped potential.

Reported plans to launch Apple Pay and its credit card in the country could support growth plans—if it beats out stiff competition.

The Indian payments provider raised $350M for new products to diversify as competition intensifies.

Tencent reportedly faces a record fine over rule violations; Paytm was allegedly banned from onboarding new users for similar reasons.

Payments Ecosystem: POS hardware, POS software, and gateway providers are working to become one-stop shops for merchants. Offering simple, robust access to front- and back-end solutions across industries lets them better serve merchants demanding integrated solutions.

Paytm expanded its BNPL solution with Postpaid Mini and PhonePe launched a digital payment solution for cash on delivery orders—helping expand the country’s digital payment solutions.

The global payment market will hit a major milestone in 2020: 1.06 billion people are expected to make a proximity mobile payment. But even as countries like China and Sweden take steps toward a cashless society, most of the world will still rely on cash and cards.

Of the 938.2 million proximity mobile payment users worldwide, over two-thirds reside in China and India. Consumer adoption is still in its early days for most markets, but there will be fast growth in retailer support and usage over the next few years.

India is home to the world’s fastest growing proximity payment market. According to eMarketer estimates, adoption is projected to jump nearly 40% this year.

Retail ecommerce sales in India will increase 31.0% to reach $32.70 billion in 2018. Investment from Alibaba, Amazon and Walmart into the ecommerce market is fueling rapid growth.

Retail ecommerce sales in India will increase 31.0% to reach $32.70 billion in 2018. Investment from Alibaba, Amazon and Walmart into the ecommerce market is fueling rapid growth.

Nowhere is the shift from offline to online booking more pronounced than in China. Digital travel sales in the region will total $133.90 billion in 2018, a 20.5% increase over 2017.

Consumers are taking advantage of online travel deals more than ever. This year, digital travel sales globally will increase 10.4% to $694.41 billion.