Online spending in India to jump 67% in 2015: Study

Sachin Manawaria | The Dollar Business The annual spending on online purchases in India is projected to grow by 67% to Rs.10,000 from per person in 2015 from Rs.6,000 in 2014, says the recently concluded study conducted by Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and PwC. The study says that around 40 million consumers purchased online products in 2014, and the numbers are expected to go up to 65 million in the coming year. Better infrastructure, logistics, broadband and internet ready devices will drive the demand of online spending further in India next year. According to the study, the e-commerce market in India is valued at $17 billion and is growing at a CAGR of around 35% each year. It is expected to cross the $100 billion mark in the next two years. Growing at such rapid pace, which is the fastest in Asia, the e-commerce sector in India has off late attracted investors such as Azim Premji and Ratan Tata as well. Earlier this year, the Amazon chief Jeff Bezos handed over a $1 billion cheque to its Indian office to drive sales in India. E-bay is also increasingly focusing on exports through e-commerce and has asked the Indian government to ease customs norms to facilitate e-exports. Several international players such as Alibaba are keen to expand their presence in e-commerce in India as it reduces efforts to create a retail brand and establish a distribution network in India. However, the ASSOCHAM study says that brands like Flipkart and Snapdeal are enjoying an edge over international platforms like Amazon. D.S. Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM, said during the release of the report that the smartphone and tablets shoppers will be strong growth drivers next year. “Mobile already accounts 11% of e-commerce sales and its share will jump to 25% by 2017,” he said. Computer and consumer electronics along with apparels and accessories accounted for the majority of Indian retail ecommerce sales last year at around 39% and is expected to climb to 42% in 2015. Moreover, India’s travel and tourism is second fastest growing industry in the world and already 75% of travel related business are been done though ecommerce, says the study. The key businesses here are online air-ticketing, train-ticketing, bus-ticketing, hotel booking, and tour packages. Rawat also highlighted the growing role of m-commerce. “In 2015, Mobile commerce will become more important as most of the companies are shifting to m-commerce,” he said.

 This article was published on December 29, 2014.