The long-term, secular trends that have fuelled Asia's rapid growth over the last decade are well known, yet one trend - the burgeoning Asian middle-class consumer - is a secular force that is still only in its early stages, according to T.Rowe Price's Eric Moffett.
It is of little surprise the world's two most populous countries, China and India, are proving hugely influential in driving disruptive change here, and in the global economy generally too.
China's rising middle class is expected to more than double in size by the end of the next decade, while some predict India's middle class may more than quadruple over the same period, given the lower base.
Real wage growth and improving standards of living are driving an exciting, broad-based shift in consumer tastes and daily spending habits. One knock-on effect of this demand has been the sharp growth in ecommerce.
What is more, Asia is leading innovation and evolution in this space, rapidly expanding in the area of online-to-offline commerce - a model utilising the efficiency of online platforms to access offline opportunities.
Historically, consumers were drawn to ecommerce primarily for reasons of competitive pricing. However, other factors, such as fast delivery, improved features and functionality, as well as wider product ranges, are now attracting a whole new wave of online consumers.
The explosion of ecommerce in Asia is being driven by the fact it is bridging the gap between what people want, and what people can get offline.
The traditional economy is still underdeveloped, allowing new technologies to leapfrog years of normal change. Mobile internet penetration in China, for example, is among the highest in the world, effectively opening up a world of consumer opportunities.
Although global ecommerce sales continue to grow at a healthy pace, Asia's growth eclipses the rest of the world. China's market has been growing at a pace of more than 70% annually since 2009, and China officially overtook the US in 2013 as the world's largest ecommerce market.
Some estimates suggest by 2020 it may be as large as the US, Japan, UK, Germany, and France combined.
Eric Moffett is manager of the T. Rowe Price Asia Opportunities Equity fund
