The e-commerce market in India is expected to touch the US $38 billion mark in 2016, a huge 67 per cent jump over the US $23 billion revenues for 2015, according to an ASSOCHAM report.
“India’s e-commerce market was worth about US $3.8 billion in 2009, it went up to US $17 billion in 2014 and to US $23 billion in 2015 and is expected to touch whopping US $38 billion mark by 2016,” said Secretary General ASSOCHAM, D S Rawat.
The industry witnessed an unprecedented growth of 52 per cent over 2015 and has emerged as one of India’s fastest growing sectors. Increasing Internet and mobile penetration, growing acceptability of online payments and favorable demographics has provided the e-commerce sector in India the unique opportunity to companies connect with their customers, the report said.
M-commerce is also growing rapidly as a stable and secure supplement to the e-commerce industry. “The customer is connected 24×7 through their smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices which is leading to a gradual evolution of e-commerce into mobile commerce and there is an issue of convenience which also leads to impulsive buying,” Rawat said.
“Given the browsing trends, which have broadly shifted from the desktop to mobile devices in India, online shopping is also expected to follow suit, as one out of three customers currently makes transactions through mobiles in tier I and II cities. In 2015, 78 per cent of shopping queries were made through mobile devices, compared to 46 per cent in 2013,” he added.
As per the paper, in 2015, the highest growth rate was seen in the apparel segment almost 69.5 per cent over last year, followed by electronic items by 62 percent, baby care products at 53 per cent, beauty and personal care products at 52 per cent and home furnishings at 49 per cent.
Also Mumbaikars led the online shopping shift in 2015. While Delhi ranked second, Ahmedabad ranked third, followed by Bangalore and Kolkata in preference for online shopping.
The survey also highlighted that almost 45 per cent of online shoppers reportedly preferred cash on delivery mode of payment over credit cards (16 per cent) and debit cards (21 per cent). Only 10 per cent opted for Internet Banking and a scanty 7 per cent preferred cash cards, mobile wallets, and other such modes of payment.
The products that were sold most in 2015 were mobile phones, ipad and accessories, MP3 players, digital cameras and jewellery, among others, points out the paper.
As per the study, there would be more than a 5 to 7-fold increase in revenue generated through e-commerce as compared to last year with all branded apparel, accessories, jewellery, gifts, footwear available at cheaper rates and delivered to a consumer’s doorstep.
One driving factor for online shopping is the age profile of consumers who are young – between 15-35 years. This segment is net savvy and enjoys new experiences.
In 2015, 78 per cent of shopping queries were made through mobile devices, compared to 46 per cent in 2013
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