More than 600 Million People Buy Online in India

India has more than 900 million internet users, despite the large number and a consistent increase in accessibility, internet penetration in the country is just under 50 percent.
 
 
When we see the data points  and an insight into the e-retail landscape, the emerging trends speaks how it is shaping the market. India’s e-retail market rose to approximately $40 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $50 billion in 2022. Online shopping is a growing trend in India, and the number of sellers and buyers is increasing daily by whopping percentages. Hence, India is the sweet spot.

Much of the growth for the Indian e-commerce sector has been triggered by an increase in internet and smartphone penetration. India currently has the world’s second-largest telecom market, one with the cheapest mobile data costs. Driven by the Government of India’s initiatives to digitise essential services, both governmental and otherwise, India has seen a tremendous rise in online shopping, with around 600 Million people opting for e-commerce platforms. 

This number is only expected to grow in the coming months. India has robust fundamentals supporting a continued boom in e-retail. India’s substantial online consumer base and retail market (third largest globally) already make it an incredibly attractive e-retail market. 

Now it is the perfect time to bring the E-Commerce vision to life online. With the growing demand for digital shopping, launching your platform now will no doubt reap great rewards in terms of customer satisfaction and sales growth.

India’s e-retail market is estimated to increase to $150–$170 billion by 2027. This implies 25%–30% annual growth and doubling of market penetration to 9%–10% over the next five years.

The report highlights that, An estimated 40 million-50 million online shoppers were added in 2021 alone; of these, over 60% were from Tier III cities and beyond. Going forward, a growing segment of online shoppers will also come from digital-native individuals under 25 years of age.

Secondly, Social and video-led live commerce are yet to gain traction in India, though they are hugely popular in China and Southeast Asian markets. The number of monthly viewers for short-form videos in India is expected to grow to over 600 million by 2025. 

Going forward, The growth of direct-to-consumer brands, attractive quick commerce propositions, and use of advanced technology such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and Indic language-based search will propel the growth of the e-retail market in Phase 3.0. 

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA