“Borders Group Inc. will sell its stores in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore to A&R Whitcoulls for as much as $104 million. Borders had earlier mentioned that it was seeking a buyer after losing market share to retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.” – June 5, Bloomberg News.

Thriving Asian economies are largely predicted to decouple from the US economic slowdown over the next few years. While Asia has the largest number of Internet users worldwide at 530 million, it has the second lowest rate of Internet penetration, 14% vs. USA 73%, in the world (Internet World Stats).

In addition to the massive growth potential of Asian internet users, the depreciation of the USD versus most currencies in the region also means that US and international retailers are well-positioned to capitalize on international e-tailing opportunities, a fast growing trend in the Asia-Pacific markets.

According to a global consumer survey Trends in Internet Shopping by ACNielsen, books continue to reign as the most popular online purchase, followed by apparel/accessories and shoes. In fact some of the biggest buyers of books online in the Asia Pacific are from South Korea, China, India, Taiwan and Vietnam.

China, with more than 220 million users, claims to have surpassed the US as the world’s #1 Internet nation and that works out to 16% market penetration (PC World:China Tops US for Internet Population Lead). There’re purportedly 35 million regular internet users in India but nearly 300 million of the population now have cellphones. Indian cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune are going Wi-Fi and this will open up potential channels for online shopping.

What’s interesting from the Nielsen report is that 66 percent of online shoppers in the Asia Pacific say they buy mostly from the same site. This shows that consumers in the region tend to stick to the tried and tested and this highlights the first mover advantage of netting potentially millions of new online shoppers as they make their maiden purchases on the Internet. If international shopping sites can capture customers early and own the positive shopping experience, they will likely engage their loyalty and generate repeat purchases.

The other day I saw a nice bag on Amazon.com that was out of stock. But Nielsen says I’m among the 66% of online shoppers likely to return to the same site. You had me at hello.