The Indian online shopping scene is set get a boost further this year. As per a new study from ASSOCHAM and PwC, the average online purchases are expected to increase by 78% in 2016 from 66% in 2015.
The study said that rise in online shopping is expected due to attractive deals and aggressive marketing of an array of items like clothes, jewellery, books and so on. In 2015, around 55 million consumers made online purchases and the number is expected to grow to 80 million this year with better infrastructure in terms of logistics, broadband and Internet-ready devices. The study stated that last year a higher amount was being spent on average for popular categories such as bags by 110 percent, apparel by 68 percent and cosmetics by 25 percent. There was also a significant increase in spending on categories such as watches by 126 percent and artificial jewellery by 65 percent.
Moving on the study highlighted that the smartphone and tablet sales will be strong growth drivers. Mobile phones already account for 11 per cent of e-commerce sales, and their share will jump to 25 percent by 2017. Computer and consumer electronics, along with apparel and accessories, account for the bulk of India’s retail e-commerce sales. These will contribute 40 per cent of the total retail e-commerce sales in 2016 from the current level of 35 percent, said the study.
D S Rawat, Secretary General ASSOCHAM said,
E-commerce is big business and getting bigger every day. Online shopping has been embraced by Indians with close to 8-10 million adults making a purchase via the internet in the last year.
Nearly 75 percent of total travel related business has migrated to e-commerce. With nearly one-third of Internet users already making purchases online, the e-commerce growth will rely more on increased spending from existing buyers than first-time online buyers. Aggressive merchandising and discounting from flash sales and daily deals, more online loyalty programmes and increasing popularity of smartphones and tablet computers among consumers, are other factors that are contributing the growth of e-commerce. Event tickets, music, consumer electronics, games and consoles, sports equipment, flowers, insurance, home appliances and furniture saw strong growth in the last year.