The Indian eCommerce industry which started its journey some ten years back has now come a long way. It has now become one of the fastest growing sectors of the country’s digital economy and if predictions by Gartner come true, it will become a business worth $6 billion by 2015.
The Indian eCommerce industry saw a growth of 33 percent last year. Goods and services worth $3.5 billion were exchanged which helped the industry achieve this growth. According to Gartner, the Indian eCommerce industry will see its growth rate increase from 33 to 70 percent by 2015.
However, according to Praveen Sengar, research director, Gartner, the boom in the industry is still at its initial stage.
Though the industry is growing but it is still lagging behind most developed countries and various developing countries. In India, less than 4 percent of the total retail sales come from eCommerce, while, in USA, the figure is a healthy 6.4 percent.
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There are a number of factors which have contributed to the growth of the eCommerce sector in the country. An increased usage of Smartphones due to which over 5 percent of transactions take place through mobile and tablets is one of the reason. The growth of the Indian middle class, who are not afraid to spend and flaunt, have also contributed to the growth of the sector.
According to eMarketer, India and China are currently the most rapidly expanding segment of the Asia-Pacific region, which is estimated to account for almost 35 percent of the total B2C online sales this year. This will probably be the first time that the Asia-Pacific region will surpass the United States.
In India, the growth has been lead by three major players: Snapdeal, Amazon and Flipkart. These three ecommerce giants are expected to affect sales worth $4 billion this year. This growth has also helped in bringing more employment in the country. The sector will reportedly be creating around 50,000 new jobs over the next five years.
Sachin Bansal, co-founder, Flipkart, hopes that the Indian eCommerce sales will be able to cross the $70 billion mark by 2020. He even estimates that his own company, Flipkart, would be a $20 billion company by the next five years.
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