Trends in Consumer Behavior towards E-commerce and its Impact on Indian Economy

Abstract

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, refers to the buying and
selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the internet and other
computer networks. Internet is the rapidest growing media during the past decade.
Especially, online shopping is a rapidly growing e commerce area. Online stores are usually
available for 24 hours a day and many consumers have internet access both at work and at
home. A successful web store is not just a good looking website with dynamic technical
features, listed in many search engines. This study aims to establish a preliminary
assessment, evaluation and understanding of the characteristics of online shopping. The
growth in technology offers good opportunities to the seller to reach the customer in faster,
easier and in economic way. Online shopping is emerged very soon from last few years. ECommerce and e-shopping create opportunities for businesses to reach consumers globally
and directly – indeed, they are transforming retailing. Consumers now have various online
and offline options from which to choose, and, without a compelling reason to choose one
retailer over another, they rotate purchases among multiple firms. The Indian economy has
been consistently showing good signs of growth, with the average GDP growth rate at 7.5%
in 2015-16. The retail sector is showing a promising trend of 11% CAGR, growing from an
estimated size of USD 600 Billion now to USD 1 Trillion in 2020. Although, currently the
total e-Commerce spend in India accounts for less than 2% of the total retail spending, eCommerce has become a key driver to create new markets in erstwhile unreachable
geographies. This trend however does not hold true for the B2B e-Commerce companies
which are profitable with greater GMV values. The Indian B2B e-Commerce market
potential was valued at USD 300 Billion in 2014, and is expected to reach USD 700 Billion
by 2020.