There is no doubt that we are moving into a “Digital India“. The demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations has meant that we are slowly but surely moving into a Cashless economy. What is also driving this is the growth of use of smart phones and internet connectivity.
This has led to rapid growth in the use of digital technologies in buying and selling merchandise for convenience and mobility pushed e-commerce in India to grow fast. This has particularly happened in tier II and tier III cities. Thus people residing in these cities have gained access to virtual shopping and e-tailing. The people of these cities have become very tech-savvy as a result.
E-commerce sector in India is indeed booming
Be it Flipkart, Amazon India or Snapdeal, they have become behemoths of India’s e- commerce sector. Thus there is fierce competition along with great opportunities.
What is also worth taking a look is the fact along with the e-commerce giants there are a large number of enterprises and businesses in diverse sectors who have all joined the bandwagon to hard sell their products and services by leveraging online digital technology.
E commerce now will be dominated by M Commerce
The experts in the industry are of the opinion that E-commerce in India is at an inflexion point. Much of this robust growth in consumer demand can be attributed to mobile penetration and increasing use of smart phones. This has also led to the emergence of m-commerce. At present this new sector has accounted for about 40 percent of the sector’s sales this year.
According to a recent study in regard to mobile internet, transition to mobile shopping is faster in India, and it even overtook the US this year in terms of active mobile users (220 million). This is second only to China in terms of user data base.
According to industry experts the emphasis on payment through digital channels has driven more and more Indian consumers to do e shopping and M shopping.
With more and more use of cloud computing, data analytics and artificial intelligence, the e-commerce players have become more competitive. They are also smarter in retaining their mass user-base and are able to also map shopping trends and predict purchasing patterns to consolidate their dominant position for sustaining growth.
Demonetization has adversely affected much of the retail sector along with other sectors in the short run. But digital transactions have enabled e-commerce firms to weather the crisis. The sector is already growing at about 40 percent cumulative average growth rate (CAGR). India’s e-commerce market is projected to touch a stunning $38 billion this fiscal year i.e 2016-17.
Some challenges the sector faces
However in spite of the phenomenal growth in the sector, it still continues to face trust deficit. Another issue is in regard to the last minute delivery solutions, which continues to persist in the sector. Lack of trust has meant that the many users still prefer cash on delivery. This is often very risky and time consuming.
In conclusion we can say that is spite of challenges with the increase in mobile penetration the e commerce industry in India is rapidly growing and will so in future. To stay updated in the digital world