Mumbai:
The e-commerce industry in the country is likely to be worth USD 38 billion by 2016, a 67 per cent jump over the USD 23 billion revenues for 2015, as per industry body Assocham.
“India’s e-commerce market was worth about USD 3.8 billion in 2009, it went up to USD 17 billion in 2014 and to USD 23 billion in 2015 and is expected to touch whopping USD 38 billion mark by 2016,” Assocham said in a statement.
Increasing internet and mobile penetration, growing acceptability of online payments and favourable demographics has provided the e-commerce sector in India the unique opportunity to companies connect with their customers, it said.
There would be over a five to seven fold increase in revenue generated through e-commerce as compared to last year with all branded apparel, accessories, jewellery, gifts, footwear are available at a cheaper rates and delivered at the doorstep, it added.
It noted that the the buying trends during 2016 will witness a significant upward movement due to aggressive online discounts, rising fuel price and wider and abundant choice will hit the e-commerce industry in 2016.
It observed mobile commerce (m-commerce) is growing rapidly as a stable and secure supplement to the e-commerce industry.
“Shopping online through smart phones is proving to be a game changer, and industry leaders believe that m-commerce could contribute up to 70 per cent of their total revenues,” the statement added.
In India roughly 60-65 per cent of the total e-commerce sales are being generated by mobile devices and tablets, increased by 50 per cent than the last year and also likely to continue upwards, it added.
It noted that the browsing trends, which have broadly shifted from the desktop to mobile devices in India, online shopping is also expected to follow suit, as one out of three customers currently makes transactions through mobiles in tier-1 and tier-2 cities.
In 2015, 78 per cent of shopping queries were made through mobile devices, compared to 46 per cent in 2013.
