India's e-commerce industry likely to touch $38 billion mark in 2016 - Assocham

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.

In 2015, the highest growth rate was seen in the apparel segment almost 69.5 per cent over last year, followed by electronic items by 62 percent, baby care products at 53 per cent, beauty and personal care products at 52 per cent and home furnishings at 49 per cent. It revealed that Mumbai ranks first in online shopping followed by Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata.

On the mode of payment, almost 45 per cent of online shoppers reportedly preferred cash on delivery mode of payment over credit cards (16 per cent) and debit cards (21 per cent). Only 10 per cent opted for internet banking and a scanty 7 per cent preferred cash cards, mobile wallets, and other such modes of payment, it said. Among the above age segments, 18-25 years of age group has been the fastest growing age segment online with user growth being contributed by both male and female segments.

The survey revealed that 38 per cent of regular shoppers are in 18-25 age group, 52 per cent in 26-35, 8 per cent in 36-45 and 2 per cent in the age group of 45-60. Almost 65 per cent of online shoppers are male as against 35 per cent female.