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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.

Marketplaces will continue to expand their share of US retail ecommerce as new players with roots in China vie for prominence.

The news: Duolingo reported a 216% increase in US users learning Mandarin Chinese compared with last year. This surge coincides with the sudden spike in downloads of RedNote, a Chinese social media app, as US TikTok users prepare for the ban that鈥檚 set to take place this weekend.

Our take: The irony of ByteDance鈥檚 TikTok users flocking to Chinese-owned alternatives, including Lemon8, indicates they鈥檙e not concerned about an app鈥檚 perceived ties to Beijing or national security鈥攖wo key arguments driving the US government鈥檚 push for a TikTok ban.

But even a short-term ban could affect US social commerce growth, which rose 26% last year to $71.6 billion thanks in large part to TikTok Shop. We expect social commerce sales to rise to $85.58 billion this year and pass $100 billion by 2026. Our take: TikTok Shop will likely prove successful in Mexico by using a similar playbook to the one deployed in the US and other markets.

Douyin, TikTok's Chinese sibling, is about to become China鈥檚 largest social platform. It's also crashing the country鈥檚 ecommerce party. Already the fourth largest online shopping platform by sales, its market share is rapidly approaching JD.com's.

Temu could try appealing to inflation-weary consumers by introducing the gamified, group-buying grocery shopping concept that made sister app Pinduoduo enormously popular in China.

To stay competitive, brands must master omnichannel integration, social commerce strategies, and technology-driven personalization. Key Question: What is the state of the fashion ecommerce market in the UK?

Retailers with roots in China are still gaining share of ecommerce in Western Europe, despite concerns over their sustainability credentials.

PDD's international expansion through Temu highlights its ambitions beyond China. While the company has diversified from its early reliance on advertising revenues, its ad business continues to thrive from what management calls "higher user engagement and more compelling advertising product offerings.".

Three Southeast Asian countries along with China, India, and Japan are among the 10 fastest-growing online shopping markets worldwide. But Asia-Pacific also includes some of the world鈥檚 slowest-growing ecommerce markets. Looking ahead, we anticipate a deceleration in overall retail ecommerce sales growth in Asia-Pacific.

Douyin investments are helping P&G shore up China sales: It鈥檚 taking advantage of the platform鈥檚 popularity among deal-seeking shoppers to boost its brands鈥� profiles.

Temu and Shein鈥檚 strategy: The two Chinese retailers are fiercely competing while also trying to drive a lucrative holiday shopping season ahead of political changes that could significantly alter their US businesses. The incoming Trump administration has proposed increasing tariffs on Chinese imports by 10%.

The news: Temu鈥檚 explosive overseas growth wasn鈥檛 enough to rescue parent PDD Holdings from the challenges weighing on consumer spending in China in Q3. PDD鈥檚 total revenues grew 44% YoY to RMB 99.4 billion ($14.1 billion), short of the RMB 102.8 billion ($14.5 billion) analysts expected.

Temu, Pinduoduo anger Chinese sellers as push for lower prices and generous returns policies eat away at profits: That could complicate the former鈥檚 efforts to win over US merchants

In one swoop, it connects Visa Direct to more than 1 billion users in China within a hard-to-penetrate market. Networks will innovate to monetize data. Mastercard, for example, partners with Citi to provide cardholders with detailed purchase information directly to their bank app and participates in open banking ecommerce payments in Europe.

ByteDance鈥檚 non-China revenues grow 60%: TikTok鈥檚 ad and ecommerce prowess drive revenues despite regulatory headwinds in US and China.