(moved from http://anuradhasivarajan.wordpress.com/ original date: Dec 25, 2012)
This one is long overdue. While Indian e-commerce is still in the first-cracks-on-the-egg-with-beak-and-feathers-sticking-out stage, if the last couple of years are anything to go by, this is a market that is going to grow, grow and how!! Forrester trends say that in the last 12 months alone, venture capitalists have invested heavily in the Indian e-commerce market and are willing to work with any start-ups (as indicated by the flurry of ads introducing new e-commerce sites everyday) that are willing to wade through logistic and payment mode challenges that are typical obstacles for e-commerce in a country like India. While currently the penetration is largely restricted to the metropolitan urban population, it is only a matter of time for e-commerce to permeate the fast-becoming-techno-savvy rural junta. Though the current internet penetration in India is 10%, at the rate at which infrastructure and connectivity is improving in rural areas we are set for speedy growth in this sector. Case in point is our Facebook presence, with 51 million Facebook users; we are the third largest audience for Facebook in the world. Trends such as social media being drivers for e-commerce, advent of grocery shopping online, etc which came much later in the maturity curve of e-commerce in developed countries, have already started in India which is an indicator of this extraordinary growth.
What Indian consumers expect out of e-commerce?
While convenience, being able to browse through a variety of products and getting the best prices are a given, Indian consumers also expect frills such as free shipping. However the most important aspects that encourage adoption, making erstwhile brick-and-mortar retail consumers into online shopping junkies are payment options such as cash-on-delivery and a seamless and hassle free returns process. I shall narrate how my first online shopping experience turned me from a brick-and-mortar retail devotee to an online shopping fiend in no time.
My first online shopping expedition!
I bought a pair of dumbbells on Ebay early this year. I am not proud to admit that though retail is my career, I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into online shopping. What ‘dragged’ me was the prohibitive prices of steel dumbbells and the unavailability of quality PVC dumbbells (the kind I was looking for) in sport & fitness shops. Finally after much soul searching with friends who were regular online shoppers, I stumbled upon just the thing I was looking for, at one fourth the price I was willing to pay, on Ebay. Without much further ado, I ordered the thing and waited with breath that was bated and arms that were itching to be flexed! I was updated from time to time on the progress of my purchase via texts and I am happy to say that I got the dumbbells before the expected delivery date. While I was satisfied with the dumbbells, on observing closely I noticed that the red dumbbells that I had ordered were slightly discolored in certain places. I thought to myself that my apprehensions about Indian e-commerce sites were not entirely unfounded and that if I had picked it up at a shop, I would have made sure that I picked a piece which was perfect. I logged back on Ebay and decided to lodge a complaint with the customer support, though I didn’t hope anything would really come out of it since frankly I had bought decent quality, sturdy dumbbells for literally a song. And most importantly I did not expect to be taken seriously by an Indian e-commerce site with as minor a gripe as mine. You can imagine my surprise when an Ebay employee called me in less than a week and arranged for a conference call between me and the seller to sort out the differences in my expectations and his product. Ebay had held the payment to the seller on receiving my complaint. To cut a long story short, me and the seller sorted our differences under Ebay’s moderation and reached a wholly satisfactory settlement (consumer grievance redressal check, hassle free return process check!). Needless to say, I am impressed and now hooked to online shopping and having tried many other Indian online retailers (the popular ones) I am yet to be disappointed!
This one is long overdue. While Indian e-commerce is still in the first-cracks-on-the-egg-with-beak-and-feathers-sticking-out stage, if the last couple of years are anything to go by, this is a market that is going to grow, grow and how!! Forrester trends say that in the last 12 months alone, venture capitalists have invested heavily in the Indian e-commerce market and are willing to work with any start-ups (as indicated by the flurry of ads introducing new e-commerce sites everyday) that are willing to wade through logistic and payment mode challenges that are typical obstacles for e-commerce in a country like India. While currently the penetration is largely restricted to the metropolitan urban population, it is only a matter of time for e-commerce to permeate the fast-becoming-techno-savvy rural junta. Though the current internet penetration in India is 10%, at the rate at which infrastructure and connectivity is improving in rural areas we are set for speedy growth in this sector. Case in point is our Facebook presence, with 51 million Facebook users; we are the third largest audience for Facebook in the world. Trends such as social media being drivers for e-commerce, advent of grocery shopping online, etc which came much later in the maturity curve of e-commerce in developed countries, have already started in India which is an indicator of this extraordinary growth.
What Indian consumers expect out of e-commerce?
While convenience, being able to browse through a variety of products and getting the best prices are a given, Indian consumers also expect frills such as free shipping. However the most important aspects that encourage adoption, making erstwhile brick-and-mortar retail consumers into online shopping junkies are payment options such as cash-on-delivery and a seamless and hassle free returns process. I shall narrate how my first online shopping experience turned me from a brick-and-mortar retail devotee to an online shopping fiend in no time.
My first online shopping expedition!
I bought a pair of dumbbells on Ebay early this year. I am not proud to admit that though retail is my career, I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into online shopping. What ‘dragged’ me was the prohibitive prices of steel dumbbells and the unavailability of quality PVC dumbbells (the kind I was looking for) in sport & fitness shops. Finally after much soul searching with friends who were regular online shoppers, I stumbled upon just the thing I was looking for, at one fourth the price I was willing to pay, on Ebay. Without much further ado, I ordered the thing and waited with breath that was bated and arms that were itching to be flexed! I was updated from time to time on the progress of my purchase via texts and I am happy to say that I got the dumbbells before the expected delivery date. While I was satisfied with the dumbbells, on observing closely I noticed that the red dumbbells that I had ordered were slightly discolored in certain places. I thought to myself that my apprehensions about Indian e-commerce sites were not entirely unfounded and that if I had picked it up at a shop, I would have made sure that I picked a piece which was perfect. I logged back on Ebay and decided to lodge a complaint with the customer support, though I didn’t hope anything would really come out of it since frankly I had bought decent quality, sturdy dumbbells for literally a song. And most importantly I did not expect to be taken seriously by an Indian e-commerce site with as minor a gripe as mine. You can imagine my surprise when an Ebay employee called me in less than a week and arranged for a conference call between me and the seller to sort out the differences in my expectations and his product. Ebay had held the payment to the seller on receiving my complaint. To cut a long story short, me and the seller sorted our differences under Ebay’s moderation and reached a wholly satisfactory settlement (consumer grievance redressal check, hassle free return process check!). Needless to say, I am impressed and now hooked to online shopping and having tried many other Indian online retailers (the popular ones) I am yet to be disappointed!
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