According to Boston Consulting Group, e-commerce sales in China almost quadrupled between 2008 and 2010 to 476 billion yuan, as 23 percent of the country’s urban population shopped online last year, the consulting firm said in a report released yesterday.  The report states that, “China’s massive geography hampers the effectiveness of physical retailing,” and that the country enjoys a low cost of shipping (roughly $1 on average to ship a 1-kilogram parcel, versus $6 in the U.S.)  Those facts should suggest an opportunity for companies that specialize in virtually every kind of non-brick-and-mortar retailing, you know like HSN and QVC.

All of this leads one to wonder, why haven’t the U.S.-based shopping networks entered the Chinese market yet?  Yes, Liberty Interactive said that they would look into such an expansion in the coming year.  And yes, we know that finding the requisite Chinese partner company is a costly, cumbersome pain.  But, come on, already!  Bloomberg News  Nov. 21, 2011