A nation being driven by smartphone penetration, India’s e-commerce space is all set to experience drastic growth in the upcoming years, growing to US$ 200 billion by 2026 from US$ 38.5 billion in 2017. The Indian e-commerce industry has been among the top flourishing markets that gained immense popularity and acceptance among both consumers and investors.
In fact, the ongoing digital transformation happening in the nation is believed to grow India’s total internet base to a whopping 829 million by 2021.
In a tete-a-tete with Franchise India, Nitin Kapoor, CEO & Founder, Indian Beautiful Art, talks about the growing dominance of the e-commerce sector and how it has certainly transformed the business is done in India. Excerpts from the interview . . .
Technology & Digitalisation: Transforming the E-commerce Sector
Technology and digitalisation are two buzzwords that have penetrated almost every business sector present in the nation and across the world. Entrepreneurs and franchisors are adopting these components for improving their products and services, eventually satisfying their customers.
Nitin says, “Digitalisation has changed e-commerce with safer online transactions & superfast checkouts; it creates an opportunity for seasoned manufacturers, traders, startups & homepreneurs to explore the opportunity today, which was not available in the market in the last decade.
In the next few years, it would be a mirror to the offline world, In-fact many brick-and-motor stores have opened online shops to cater to the customers which particular demands and to be recognized in the growing business opportunity in the world of e-commerce.”
The Boom Factor for the Indian E-commerce Industry
In a business ecosystem, a boom factor is something or anything that attracts the clients or customers with information and messages that can resonate. These boom factors usually help business owners to accelerate their operational structure, increasing the chance for emerging out as a successful and major player within a respective industry.
“I believe it is the customers only who are demanding products & innovations, which is leading businesses to innovate and offer something new & exciting to the customer is leading to the e-commerce industry boom in this era. To fulfill the "WOW" journey of the customer, e-tailers are providing a seamless & enjoyable shopping experience to the customer in which lightning fast product delivery plays an important role,” adds Nitin.
A Comparison between National and International E-commerce Market
“The international markets are more matured and have adapted e-commerce as part of their lives and there no comparisons as such between offline & online there. However, in India, both the consumer & sellers are still getting educated by the new ways the e-commerce is being done, and since it is a different industry to the country, we would take a little more time to adapt it entirely in our daily lives.
The other significant difference is returns. The returns in the international market are like 2-3% as compared to India, which is still at 20-30%. This also shows that the learning period for both consumer & seller is always on and hopefully in the next decade we anticipate more than assumed results in this sector in India,” explained Nitin.
