Despite increasing product diversification and margin improvement, the US-listed online retailer's earnings visibility remains weak in an increasingly competitive market.

Suning’s transition from a bricks-and-mortar home-appliance retailer to a multi-platform seller of a wide variety of consumer goods appears to be a positive long-term move, but earnings are likely to remain under pressure in the short to medium term.

The fundamentals supporting continued strong growth of online retail in China remain strong, but structural shifts and intense competition have raised costs for both existing and new market participants alike.

Controversial plans to levy a tax on express delivery companies could have a negative impact on China’s fast-growing logistics and online retail sectors

Consumer review and group-buy website Dianping has built up a strong user base and attracted several rounds of investment ahead of a possible future IPO.

Online dating site Jiayuan has begun to turn a profit, but faces growing competition and soaring marketing costs due to weak user stickiness.

An estimated 50m core white-collar workers are at the vanguard of modern Chinese consumerism, driving the rise of a retail and service universe that emphasises convenience above all else.

Having benefited from the rise of e-commerce over the past decade, China’s largest express-delivery firm has now launched its own online shopping site.