Western markets are becoming more saturated as brands and retailers race to capitalize on consumers’ growing appetite for online shopping. China, the king of e-commerce, is feeling the intensity of competition from rapidly growing domestic brands, as well as expanding cross border sales. The pandemic got consumers used to shopping online - and not just in top markets.That’s opened literally a world of opportunities for brands and retailers to tap into many previously overlooked markets, which due to various economic factors are now becoming quite interesting.The rise of a middle class - with purchasing power - in nations that were traditionally tagged as ‘under developed’, ‘developing’ or just ‘poor’ is set to be a game changer for brands and retailers. As in China, e-commerce is enabling brands to leap over the lack of Grade A retail properties and infrastructure that previously were necessary for brands to properly enter a market. Today brands can begin by building sales online and later add physical retail, if and when it becomes available.From Potential to Actually PurchasingThe growth of smartphone users is also powering up e-commerce growth in developing nations, along with mobile payment options that serve otherwise ‘unbanked’ consumers.Rising wages in developing nations, greater opportunities for education and foreign investment are also key drivers that are pushing the growth of new consumer markets that are willing and able to buy international products.The Next Important E-commerce MarketsThere are 9 markets that are showing strong growth opportunities, in terms of the number of internet users, availability of online payment services and improving logistics. BrazilBrazil’s Open Banking agenda will reduce barriers to financial inclusion as well as the costs of accessing financial systems for consumers. The Central Bank has also launched a QR-code based instant payment solution (Pix).E-commerce is projected to reach US$26.1 billion in 2021 with a CAGR 2021-2025 of 7.20%, and is estimated to reach US$34.4 billion by 2025, per Statista data. ColombiaIn 2018, Colombia set a goal for 85% financial inclusion by 2022, which was exceeded two years early, reaching 85.9% in 2020. This has made online shopping possible for many more people.The country is estimated to have close to 22 million online buyers, with over 60 percent of the internet-using population, according to Statista data.Colombia is the 32nd largest market for eCommerce with revenues of US$6 billion in 2020, placing it ahead of Argentina and behind the United Arab Emirates.E-commerce sales are expected to grow 16 percent year-on-year in 2026, per the Colombian Chamber of E-Commerce (CCCE).IndiaThe nation’s total retail market will grow to $1.2 trillion by 2021 making it the third largest retail market in Asia and fourth largest in the world, according to Deloitte India. The number of smartphone users in India surpassed half a billion in 2020 driving the growth of m-commerce. Strong e-commerce platforms such as Flipkart, Amazon India, Snapdeal, Myntra and others are bringing both international and domestic brands to consumers who have limited access to organized retail.Despite newly introduced regulations and policies, the market is forecast to reach $84 billion in 2021, according to Deloitte.A joint report from Bain & Company and Flipkart noted that India’s ecommerce market is expected to grow 25-30 percent annually to reach a size of $120-140 billion by 2026. MexicoThe nation’s young, urban and middle class population, with 66% of citizens (84 million) aged 15-64, and 80% (102 million) living in cities is ideal for e-commerce growth, per PayPal data.E-commerce is expected to reach US$23.2 million in 2021, with a CAGR 2021-2025 of 3.78 percent, and revenue reaching US$26.8 million by 2025. User penetration is near 44.2% in 2021 and is expected to hit 57.6% by 2025, according to Statista. NigeriaNigeria is Africa’s largest B2C e-commerce market, both in terms of the number of shoppers and overall revenue. Its fast-growing, young population is accustomed to buying online and has helped e-commerce revenue reach $5 billion in 2020, according to EcommerceDB.Established platform Jumia is now being joined by startups including Pricepally and Rabawa.Both the extremely wealthy and the impoverished display a voracious appetite for e-commerce. What makes the market interesting is both its massive population (212.4 million people) and the growing spending power of its rising middle class. PolandPoland has about 23.4 million online shoppers, in a nation of 38 million people. 72% of Internet users buy in Polish digital stores with fashion, books, and media being top sellers, according to Gemius research.E-commerce now represents 10 percent of total retail sales, per the Polish Economic Institute.E-commerce revenue is projected to reach US$15,157 million in 2021, with a CAGR 2021-2025 of 7.21%, with an US$20,020 million in revenue by 2025, per Statista data. As of January 2021, there were 104.4 million Internet users in the country. Irrevocable changes in consumer habits now present a truly golden opportunity for merchants to conquer new markets as they seek to grow revenues and extend their customer base in the post-COVID era. South AfricaE-commerce growth in 2021 can be fairly confidently expected to exceed the 30% growth seen in 2019 reaching $4.2 billion this year, according to World Wide Worx. E-commerce is expected to reach $7.7 billion by 2025Total retail market share of e-commerce is around 4%. TurkeyE-commerce represents only 5.3 percent of the overall Turkish retail market, according to JP Morgan. However e-commerce revenues grew 42 percent in 2018, followed by 31 percent in 2019 and 51.8 percent in 2020, according to the Turkey Trade Ministry.Total ecommerce revenue across all product categories was US$11.3 billion, expected to reach US$25.6 billion by 2025, according to Statista. Fashion leads, generating US$4.7 billion market share. At present, 67 percent of the Turkish population are making purchases online and more than 92% of its 83 million residents use a mobile device.