What is the future of E-Commerce in India?

Since its independence, India is looking to make its mark on the world. With the flourishing R&D sector and the advancement in technology, this job has become easier than ever for India. Now India is becoming the new “Land of Opportunity”. But, do all these advancements hold something for e-commerce industries?

In this article we’ll discuss just that, and will look at some of our country’s finest e-commerce companies.

E-commerce in India

As far back as one can remember, they can recall an event of their life when they’re booking online train tickets. Yes! It was IRCTC which started this trend of e-commerce industries in India.At that time, back in 2002, it seemed like magic that you can book your train ticket without standing in line for hours.  There was no burden of waiting, no wastage due to unavailability, just you and this exquisite website where you could book all your tickets in a matter of seconds.

Well, this was all in the past.

Today with over 627 million users active on the internet, e-commerce industries have come way far. We have witnessed various kinds of e-commerce startups around us. Some of them were a failure, while others like Flipkart have become e-commerce giants. Looking at the graph shown below, we can easily see the rapid growth in profit generated by e-commerce industries.

In the year 2018, it was reported that the e-commerce market in India is worth around USD 38 billion. This particular report is enough to prove the potential e-commerce industries hold in India.But, why do we have this sudden change happening now?

Well, following are some reasons which can help us understand this exponential growth:

• Booming amount of users on the internet, which are easily targeted by the e-commerce industries.

• Affordability and availability of the internet all around the nation.

• Proactive support provided by the government for enriching the digital sector with the help of the 'Digital India' campaign.

• Middle-class is becoming richer every day and can afford all the luxuries they want. They act as the most potential customer for e-commerce industries.

• Security, which is harder to crack than an oak tree, assures safer transactions for a customer, and development in Logistics which helps e-commerce industries to reach out to the most remote areas of the nation.

Major E-commerce industries in India
Now let’s have a look at some of the major players which are ruling the e-commerce industries in India.

1. Flipkart

Flipkart has its headquarters in Bangalore, India and is currently worth USD 6.3 billion. Founded in 2007 by Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, the company initially focused on the distribution of books all around the nation. However, with the immense success received in the 'book-business', the company soon began protruding its roots in other areas of the market.

Flipkart currently houses over 30,000 employees worldwide and is known to hold 39.5% of India's e-commerce industry in 2007.The excellent customer service and product quality provided by Flipkart makes it one of the most prominent e-commerce companies in the nation.
 

2. Amazon

Amazon is an American e-commerce and cloud computing company having its headquarters in Seattle, Washington. The net worth of Amazon is around USD 10 billion, and it houses over 600,000 employees all over the world.The company was started with a focus on selling music and Video CDs back in 1998, but in the subsequent years that followed it began its venture on selling various other items.

It is known as the world's largest internet-based retailer.Amazon arrived in India with a site called Junglee.com, which allowed customers to compare prices online. Today, it is the most known e-commerce company in India with its influence in remote villages of the country.

3. Snapdeal

Snapdeal has its headquarters in New Delhi, India and is a well-known e-commerce company in the country. Founded in 2010 by Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, the company showcases more than 30 million products from more than 800 diverse categories.The net worth of the company is around USD 130 million.

Snapdeal has known to acquire several business enterprises all around the nation like Grabbon.com, esportsbuy.com, Shopo.in, etc.With a reach to over 6,000 towns in the nation, it is without a doubt one of the most important e-commerce companies of the nation.  

Conclusion

The statistics speak for themselves, and it is imminent that e-commerce industries will begin their rapid growth in the future. Furthermore, with the use of technologies like RPA and AI in e-commerce industries, a new era of marketing is inevitable for India.