8 Trends for Indian E-commerce in 2016 and beyond

Unless you are living in a cave on a remote island you could not have missed the stupendous growth of Indian E-commerce in the last two years. The boom in online retail has brought about radical changes in the way we perceived business less than a decade ago.

For customers as well as business owners who sell products online, things are changing rapidly. Customers have changed the way they used to shop and the sellers are going to extremes to find and provide exactly what is being demanded by them.

The recent report by Google-AT Kearney is a clear indicator that online retail is witnessing unprecedented changes. Business models and rules of B2C businesses are revised and being rewritten like never before.

Whether you own an online business or belong to the network of associated service which form the supply and logistics chain, staying updated on the latest ecommerce trends is going to benefit you hugely.

Our team compiles some of the most important trends that would shape the e-commerce environment in India in 2016 and beyond. Have a read and refine your products and services to make the best of the opportunities ahead:

1) Lifestyle leads the market
 
With the millennials leading the online revolution, it is no surprise that the young and the happening are turning to lifestyle products as their first buying choice.
 
Lifestyle products are the biggest selling category in the e-commerce market followed by consumer electronics, home décor and others.

2) Cash on delivery still rules
 
Cash on delivery is still the preferred choice of Indian buyers but with the aggressive penetration of banks and plastic money made available to masses, the percentage of COD transactions has fallen to mere 45%. Historically it used to be almost 70-80% of all e-commerce transactions in India.

3) Online transactions Increased
 
A whopping 55% of online volumes are carried out by cashless transaction. In 2015, 50 million transactions were done by users with plastic money or digital wallets. By 2016, it is expected to increase by 50% and reach at least 75 million users. Most of these users are coming via smartphones.

4) Online spend by women doubles
 
Trends for Indian E-commerce in 2016 are a clear indicator that women customers are ruling the online bazaar. Women are going to double their share of online spend in just 1 year from 2015 to 2016.
 
If you are an online business owner acknowledge the women power and plan your business to tap in the special needs of this segment of customers.
 
5) M-commerce Upsurge
 
M-commerce has taken online selling to new heights. It has not only outpaced the growth of e-commerce but is expected to be the main channel of online sales by 2018. As of now 30% of online sales are being driven by desktops.
 
For survival the business owners need to create omni channel presence else they might be losing 20-30% potential buyers in all the major online selling categories. Omni channel presence is going to be the key for survival.
 
6) Discounts Aren’t Enough
 
If you sell products online and use discounts as your only way to attract customers. BEWARE!
 
The savvy online buyer is no longer driven by discounts alone. They are asking for much more and the buying decision is heavily influenced by product reviews, quality of product,faster delivery, multiple choices, free shipping and other similar facilities which make your product different from other competitors.

7) Buyer and seller Boom
 
By 2020, e-tailing is going to become 25% of all organized retail sales. This means there would be a tremendous jump in the number of online buyers and Indian e-commerce would progress towards a more mature stage.
 
Good News: To cater to the demands of the buyers, there needs to be a 5-fold increase in the number of sellers. Have a business idea? This is the best time to build online store in India. Gear up, roll out your store to ride the tide!

8) Value addition key to survival
 
This is the time to focus on unit economics and take personalized services to new level. Customer acquisition along with value addition is the key to survival. As listed above customers are looking beyond discounts and are ready to pay for premium services. 9 out of 10 customers is ready to spend extra if they get better services and faster deliveries. Value added services are the key to gain an edge over your competition.
 
To sum up, Indian consumer has matured and to keep pace, online market needs to provide services which suit the tastes and requirements of the new generation of online buyers. Pricing will no longer be the only consideration for shopping online. Convenience and premium services will be the two  driving forces that will mint money for store owners.

If you are planning to foray in the online retail market, go for online selling platform in India which is future ready and supports multi device M-commerce.StoreHippo offers a mobile ready SaaS based ecommerce platform with pre-integrated logistics, payment gateways and many other third party services.
 
Planning to build your online store? Check our Affordable plans and roll out your store NOW!