Indian ecommerce in a nutshell: important trends in the industry

Most Indians know about online shopping by now. Either it’s the crazy discount deals that people are talking about, or the quick delivery systems or simply the amazing choice of products and services available online. But there are some important things to know about this industry before venturing into online retail or e-tail.

We at Indian Online Seller wish to explain trends in Indian ecommerce that are important for a seller to know. Here are a few things we have explained:

Why is ecommerce creating a buzz?

Research done by reliable agencies has proven that by 2020, ecommerce is going to be a gold mine for business and entrepreneurs. Here’s a graph that explains this predicted growth clearly:

This definitely indicates that online shopping is going to get bigger with every year. In fact, right now is the best time for e-commerce enthusiasts to be part of the industry’s success. Statistics also suggest that online marketplaces tend to have higher sales than independent online stores. No wonder ecommerce is creating a buzz in India.

How is e-tail different from retail?

Here’s a quick explanation of the differences between the traditional retail model and the concept of selling goods online:

Source:pwc

As can be clearly seen, the e-tail model does not have to invest in brick-and-mortar stores, but have to arrange for delivery logistics instead. There seems to be lesser intervention between the product and its delivery to the customer in comparison to traditional retail where the product has to pass through several middlemen who do the sorting and storage. Quite obviously, this means that e-tail is much more flexible in terms of gaining a much larger customer base.

What sells online?

It goes without saying that the ecommerce bug seems to have bit the country hard. People shop for almost everything available online, right from vegetables and groceries to even computers. Recently, some marketplaces like Snapdeal have also begun offering e-learning and real estate options. But the important question is, what does the Indian online shopper want to purchase? This is an important question to be considered by any seller before deciding to go online.

Previous market research on the same subject suggests the following:

Up until 2013, it seemed like travel was the most popular category in e-commerce. It was predicted that the ecommerce boom will be led by Fashion Apparel and Electronics though. This already seems to be coming true. Recent statistics that came in during the Great Online Shopping Festival suggest that Electronics and Fashion are leading categories that customers wish to purchase. Also, products priced below Rs 5000 are most popular.  So it is quite evident that people wish to purchase clothes, probably trendy accessories and all types of affordable electronics. One of the reasons for this could probably be that offline retailers of the same electronics brands do not offer the same discounts that one can find online.

E-commerce is a dynamic and fast-changing industry. We will be explaining concepts like e-commerce infrastructure, logistics and behaviour of Indian consumers when shopping online in our next article in this series.

Watch this space for an update soon.

Till then, Happy E-tailing!