E-tailing Market in India 2012

Online shopping has caught the fancy of the common people in a phenomenal way in recent years. As the significant changes in modern lifestyles are leading people to become increasingly hard pressed for time, they are constantly on the lookout for quicker alternatives for practically every kind of activity and shopping online has earmarked a new trend in this time-saving effort. Indian retail has been quick to capitalize on this new concept, thereby heralding a new era of e-tailing. Although e-commerce has been prominent in the online domain for quite some time now, yet it is different from e-tailing in the sense that while the former includes sale of goods and services, the latter pertains to only goods. Despite certain prevalent inhibitions regarding the prospects of e-tailing in the country, this form of shopping has suddenly received a new lease of life and is well on its way towards further growth due to the increasing internet and credit card penetration and general tendency among consumers to explore new avenues of shopping.

The report begins with an introduction of the retail market in India primarily because e-tailing is an online variant of retailing. This is followed by the introduction of the parent industry for e-tailing which is the e-commerce sector. A brief introduction is provided on the e-commerce sector along with the market size and growth as well as market segmentation. The focus then shifts to e-tailing deliberating on the concept, followed by its evolution and a trade-off between physical retailing and e-tailing, elaborating on the advantages associated with the online variant. The report then focuses on the e-tailing market in India detailing about its market size and growth. A brief snapshot of the sector is also provided with this overview that is immediately followed by a segmentation of the e-tailing market. The section concludes with a value chain analysis of the sector. The report then proceeds to give a briefing about the e-tailing formats that are present in the sector. A section on the benefits associated with e-tailing comes next that precedes the 4Ps of marketing for the sector and the key success factors. The following section speaks about the product categories that find maximum off-take in this sector.

Brief descriptions of the drivers that help the sector to prosper include increase in internet users, boost from social media, changing demographics, increase of internet-enabled computing devices, soaring real estate costs and the need to save time. A considerable proportion of the growth of the sector depends on the growth of the internet user base. As internet users increase with the passage of time, activities such as e-tailing that depend on net connectivity also derive their growth from the same. Social media has helped the sector to grow in the sense that it acts as an effective marketing vehicle and directs traffic to e-tailers websites in addition to providing enough visibility and promotional ground for the players. A lot depends on the mindset of people who comprise the end users. As consumers evolve and become more prone to experimentation with alternate means of shopping, e-tailing as a sector continues to rise. Another factor that acts as a stimulant is the consistent rise of internet-enabled devices, namely smartphones and tablets that render both portability and mobility to consumers who can purchase goods even on the go. Further, soaring real estate costs, which makes setting up physical stores an expensive deal, also act as a growth driver. The final driver in this sector is that of the general tendency to opt for online shopping that saves time as well as bridges the distance between the consumer and the store at a click of the mouse. While these factors can be termed as growth drivers, there are certain factors that act as impediments to the sector including negative consumer perspectives related to cyber security, high cost of cus