Online retail via mobile sales are expected to grow to $1 trillion (£800bn) in 2020 – up from $539bn in 2016 – in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

According to a report from Forrester, at the same time, China – as the largest online retail market in the world – is expected to become the first nation to reach $1 trillion in overall online retail sales.

China accounts for nearly 80 per cent of all online retail sales, or $861m worth in 2016, in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region and is the largest online retail market globally. Currently, more than 19 per cent of retail sales in China take place online – an amount expected to increase to 24 per cent by 2021.

Meanwhile, India – the fastest growing market in the world – is expected to overtake Australia in 2019 and reach $64bn by 2021 in online retail sales.

“The increased adoption of smartphones and tablets, as well as the development of 3G networks, means that mobile shopping has become an increasingly important driver for online retail n Asia Pacific, especially China and India,” said Satish Meena in the report.

“The falling cost of smartphones and tablets is increasing the adoption of these devices, while cash-on-delivery (COD) payment options available in India and China are allowing customers to shop more frequently via mobile devices.”

Clothing accounts for more than 29 per cent of total online retail sales in the APAC region – followed by consumer electronics at 25 per cent and computer hardware at 11 per cent – while grocery, beauty and cosmetics, and homeware and furniture are the fastest-growing categories.