CIRP: Research shows Amazon's Chinese and American markets are like ice and fire

The Consumer Research Initiative (CIRP), a well-known American research company, has released the latest market research and analysis reports on Amazon users.

The report shows that the largest number of items ordered by American consumers on Amazon is electronic products, not books as people have always believed. The strong U.S. market cannot hide the weak development of the Chinese market, and the localization of services in China is not ideal.

The report is based on CIRP's survey of 1,100 Amazon consumers over the past eight months and China IT Research Center's first quarter monitoring of the Chinese market.

The CIRP report shows that in addition to the best-selling electronic products, books are still one of Amazon's main hot-selling products. This is why Amazon has been working hard to reach cooperation agreements with more publishers recently. However, among virtual items, consumers are more inclined to pay for downloading music rather than e-books.

The data also shows that in terms of paid downloads, about 1/3 of book and game consumers ultimately choose to download virtual electronic versions, and only 1/6 of movie consumers choose to download paid electronic versions of movies to complete their purchases, which also shows that most movie consumers still prefer physical DVD movies.

In terms of postage, American consumers are as keen on free shipping as Chinese consumers. Consumers are very disgusted with the high express delivery fees including insurance. As many as 93% of consumers choose ordinary express delivery services or the amazing 2-day free express delivery service.

The battle among e-commerce companies has spread from PC to mobile, and various apps are thriving. Another survey released by BI Information Group shows that Amazon's monthly page views on PC have dropped to 41%. Compared with the other two major online shopping e-commerce companies in the US market, eBay and Walmart, Amazon's transition from PC to mobile is obviously smoother.

As a leader in the global e-commerce field, Amazon, which started out with books, is currently trying hard to transform itself into a comprehensive B2C e-commerce company. In recent years, it has performed well in the US market, launching innovative initiatives such as smart search, one-click shopping, and seamless connection services, focusing on perfect user experience, which has also given Amazon new energy.

However, Amazon has encountered many difficulties in its development in China in recent years. Recently, China IT Research Center (CNIT-Research) released the 2014 Q1 e-commerce APP market monitoring report:

The report shows that Amazon's performance is mediocre both in terms of total APP downloads and growth rate, and it is not as outstanding as it is in the US market. Faced with strong resistance from local e-commerce companies in the Chinese market, Amazon may only have hope of breaking out of the mobile online shopping melee if it works harder on localizing its services.