JCB sees a 300% e-commerce surge that began before COVID-19

A surge in e-commerce across Asia began long ahead of the pandemic, according to new data from the Tokyo-based credit card network JCB.

JCB documented a 300% increase in e-commerce sales volume between 2016 and 2019, as higher-end consumers in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China increased online purchases from European retailers, JCB said in a Wednesday press release.

The pandemic further accelerated Asia's e-commerce boom, with significant shifts in spending from travel to retail purchases as COVID-19 restrictions forced consumers to stay home, according to JCB's data.

In China, JCB customers increased their e-commerce spending at U.K. department stores by 170% between 2019 and 2020, JCB said in the release.

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U.K. and Spanish e-commerce merchants were most popular with JCB customers in South Korea and in Thailand. Retail sales accounted for 43% of total JCB customers’ online spending through European retailers, up from 13% in 2019 and 2% in 2017, JCB said.

JCB’s total customer base has increased by 48% in the past four years as JCB has expanded acceptance across Europe through a series of partnerships with global acquirers, according to the release.

JCB has more than 135 million customers, and Stripe is working with the network to expand acceptance in other countries including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, San Francisco-based Stripe said in a blog post last year.

“E-commerce offers a huge opportunity for European retailers and we are working with our partners with the core goal of enabling economic prosperity and recovery across Europe,” Tsuyoshi Notani, JCB International’s managing director for Europe, said in the release.