Online shopping by Israelis on Chinese websites triples in Q3: report

JERUSALEM - The total value of online shopping by Israelis from Chinese websites jumped by 200 percent in the third quarter of this year, a report said Tuesday.

The report, released by Global Courier Express (GCX), the largest Israeli courier company, said online shopping by Israelis from Chinese websites accounted for 37 percent of all Israeli overseas online shopping in the third quarter, compared with 15 percent in the previous quarter.

The increase includes purchases from all major Chinese websites, mainly Ali Express, GearBest, Banggood and Shein.

GCX said that about 35 percent of online purchases was from US websites, such as eBay and Amazon, while 19 percent of from British websites, down 57 percent from the previous quarter.

According to GCX data, the average transaction value for packages in the third quarter of the year was $54.84, down 38 percent from the second quarter.

The main reason for this is the increase in Israeli orders through Chinese websites, where the average order price is relatively lower compared with British and US websites, GCX explained.

In the first nine months of the year, there has been an increase of 17 percent in the total number of online orders by Israelis via post, compared with the same period of 2017.

In addition, Paypal company's data showed that the total value of Israeli purchases from Ali Express in 2018 is expected to reach 2.5 billion new shekels ($680 million), which is higher than any other shopping website.