India has witnessed a phenomenal technological shift in the e-commerce industry over the past decade. The urban Indian population has adopted Internet as an integral part of their daily lifestyle, pushing the countrys digital frontier to match that of the US and UK.
According to a report published last year in The Hindustan Times, the e-commerce revenue in India has surpassed $14 billion in 2013. And what do the 160-million-plus Internet users in the country primarily do online? Their browsing habits range from social networking, e-mailing, watching videos, booking movie tickets and ordering clothes, books and other everyday merchandise to their doorsteps. A large group of Indian "netizens" also use the Internet to find life partners - a trend thats growing fast. According to the Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), online matrimony in India is seeing significant growth, and the business is likely to touch Rs.1500 crore by 2017.
Bharat Matrimony, the worls and Indias unmatched leader in online matchmaking, has more than 20 lakh registered members using its services. The company took the mobile market by storm with more than 5 lakh Android app downloads within a few months of its launch. Owing to the increasing popularity of mobile apps that are tapping the convenience factor of the smart phones, the level playing field of e-commerce is rapidly changing. For retailers, the writing is on the wall - business through mobile is the next big thing in e-commerce.
Little wonder then that businesses have started their logical expansion into the mobile world by developing mobile sites and apps to engage smart phone users. In fact, mobile transactions are on the rise across many e-commerce websites. By 2016, mobile commerce–also known as "m-commerce" in India is projected to eclipse China, which boasts the worlds biggest e-commerce market at present. In India, the number of mobile users is over 930 million - an imposing six-fold figure over the relatively lower number of Internet users at 160 million (including 86 million mobile Internet users).
So whats triggering such a humungous growth in Indian e-commerce? Various factors such as liberal government initiatives, telecom policies, affordability of Internet service, low cost mobile devices, Internet and mobile penetration in tier 2 and 3 cities and the countrys chase in the global race to close the gap between traditional versus online business models are major driving forces behind the e-commerce boom
About the Author
Saichithra Swaminathan over 19 years of experience, expertise in various domains including Product, Technology and Digital Marketing.