It is almost certain that the next blue ocean in India is going to be ecommerce. There are some of the facts that exactly give us the holistic picture of ecommerce Industry. Indian retail market will be worth 900 bn USD by 2014 and out of which online contribution is just 0.47%, while the global Industry average is 4%. Our neighbour country China is very close to the Industry average. Number of people below the age of 35 is going to be close to 828 Mn by 2015. This can be very interesting figure for all e-commerce companies in India. Adoption of new technology is also an important factor for fueling the growth of e-commerce Industry. Current trend shows that India will have 450 Mn smartphone users and close to 100 Mn 3G users by 2015. Most Important – The Internet – Close to 376 Mn unique internet users by 2015 and Current users: 120 Mn but we are still struggling with Infrastructure and bandwidth (High speed Internet).
India’s e-commerce market grew at a staggering 88 per cent in 2013 to $ 16 billion, riding on booming online retail trends and defying slower economic growth and spiraling inflation, according to a survey by industry body Assocham. “The increasing Internet penetration and availability of more payment options boosted the e-commerce industry in 2013,” Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.
“Besides electronics gadgets, apparel and jewelry, home and kitchen appliances, lifestyle accessories like watches, books, beauty products and perfumes, baby products witnessed significant upward movement in last one year,” Rawat said. According to the survey, India’s e-commerce market, which stood at $2.5 billion in 2009, reached $8.5 billion in 2012 and rose 88 per cent to touch $16 billion in 2013. The survey estimates the country’s e-commerce market to reach $56 billion by 2023, driven by rising online retail. As per responses by 3,500 traders and organised retailers in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Kolkata who participated in the survey, online shopping grew at a rapid pace in 2013 due to aggressive online discounts, rising fuel prices and availability of abundant online options. Among the cities, Mumbai topped the list of online shoppers followed by Delhi, while Kolkata ranked third, the survey found. The age-wise analysis revealed that 35 per cent of online shoppers are aged between 18 years and 25 years, 55 per cent between 26 years and 35 years, 8 per cent in the age group of 36-45 years, while only 2 per cent are in the age group of 45-60 years. Besides, 65 per cent of online shoppers are male while 35 per cent are female.
To make the most of increasing online shopping trends, more companies are collaborating with daily deal and discount sites, the survey pointed out.
The products that are sold most are in the tech and fashion category, including mobile phones, iPads, accessories, MP3 players, digital cameras and jewelry, among others, it found.India has Internet base of around 150 million as of August, 2013, the survey said. “Having close to 10 per cent of Internet penetration in India throws a very big opportunity for online retailers to grow and expand as future of Internet seems very bright,” Rawat said.Those who are reluctant to shop online cited reasons like preference to research products and services online (30 per cent), finding delivery costs too high (20), fear of sharing personal financial information online (25) and lack of trust on whether products would be delivered in good condition (15), while 10 per cent do not have a credit or debit card.
As more and more people are choosing to do their purchases online, companies are seeking ways to use eRetail as an additional option of selling their products. Companies do not have staff trained to take advantage of eCommerce for their products. This is a new sector that is evolving and can potentially have a very large impact on employability of the youth. This is a sector that has not yet been tapped and holds the promise to employ more than 10,0000 candidates in the next 2 years with a steady growth of 20% per annum for the next 10 years. Speakwell has a tie-up with eBay , the leader in this space to create a training program that will enable the student to become an eCommerce specialist for the company.
In the next 10 years we expect to train over one lakh students in the eCommerce specialist role.
The eCommerce Skills also serve as a very good option for self employment. With some years of experience, the candidate can startup his or her own venture which will serve as a consultant for companies who cannot afford to establish a separate department catering to eCommerce selling. Many young entrepreneurs, who have started off their venture are now running a team of 10 – 12 such eCommerce specialist.
The availability of trained resources in this sector can have a far reaching impact on our economy as well, because eCommerce opens up the world as a territory for our local companies, giving them access to the world market for their product’s unique value propositions, whether it be price, quality or ingenuity.
Reading your article has greatly helped me, and I agree with you. But I still have some questions. Can you help me? I will pay attention to your answer. thank you.