eCommerce Industry in India – Future Potential and Growth
India realizes the importance of eCommerce, as this is an emerging practice of businesses in today’s world. For adopting eCommerce, two requirements need to be catered to: physical connectivity and technology, and legal framework governing the flow of trade. To ensure a better connectivity, there has been an increase in the number of Internet Service Providers following a growth in the Telecommunication sector.
And to address trade related issues in eCommerce, the government has set up National Task Force on Information and Technology.
Issues with eCommerce – Payment and Dispatch of Goods
One of the major factors for eCommerce not taking off in India as expected, is the dispatch of goods on time and payment issues. Merchants start order processing and shipping only after the receipt of money through Credit Card or online banking payment. Mostly, online payments are credited to the intermediaries like paypal, who transfer these payments to merchants. To address this situation, Reserve Bank of India has issued new norms for facilitating eCommerce transactions.
As per the RBI directives, the payment will be credited directly to the merchants and not the intermediaries. With this arrangement, money will be available to the merchant within 3 days of transaction. This will expedite shipping of goods to the customer on time.
However, still there is an underlying problem of fixing responsibility for the goods delivered and the payment. Online retailers do not take full responsibility of a clear e-transaction. So, the customer problems still persist. However, India has taken a number of steps to facilitate eCommerce transactions and steadily, the loop-holes are being plugged.
eCommerce in Rural India
With internet reaching a wider base of population, eCommerce transactions happen over a vaster segment of Indian society. According to the survey conducted by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), the rural internet users have outgrown the number of urban internet users.
According to the eBay Census Guide 2009, India has 2471 eCommerce hubs. These hubs are spread over the entire country and cover cities, towns, villages, and smaller towns. All 28 states and 7 Union Territories have witnessed eCommerce transactions. It was also found that rural Indians are actively involved in online shopping. Online buying and selling trends have been observed in Bundi (Rajasthan), Thevaram (Tamil Nadu), Tezpur (Assam). Online shopping is underway in 747 rural towns of India. The study reveals that 181 rural towns, including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerela, Maharashtra, and Gujarat are active entrepreneurship hubs. These hubs cater to online selling in India and world wide.
Successful eCommerce Ventures
Few successful ventures in eCommerce include: Naukri.com, which is a portal for employment, ICICIDIRECT.com has simplified stock trading. Bazee.com is a shopping portal and is India’s answer to eBay.
To get detailed information on the eCommerce Industry in India, visit the following link at India Reports: http://www.india-reports.com/summary/ecommerce_in_india.aspx. India Reports provides analysis, reports, PPTs and statistics on India. India Reports also provides the clients with custom-made reports to meet specific needs.
