5 ways to crack India’s ecommerce market

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India is one of the fastest growing markets for ecommerce in the Asia/Pacific region, but the segment still accounts for less than one percent of total retail sales in the country. So what does it need to grow?

Sharper focus on customer experience, product range, delivery, payment, and customer service, says IT research and advisory company Gartner.

“Digital commerce is at a nascent stage in India, and it accounts for less than one percent of total retail sales in 2015,” said Gene Alvarez, managing vice president at Gartner, speaking at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2015. On in Goa this week, its focus was on the digital commerce industry.

“India represents a US$7 billion market, growing at more than 40 percent every year. Currently B2C commerce leads the market in India, while B2B is limited to organizations that drive online sales while trying to cut costs in dealing with their partners and distributors,” Gene added.

India has 350 million active web users out of a population of nearly 1.3 billion. Due to low Internet penetration, consumers tend to rely on mobile phones as the primary channel for online shopping.

Over 40 percent of digital commerce transactions came from a mobile device in 2014, and it is likely to exceed 50 percent in 2015, says Gartner.

Focus on five

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According to Gartner, ecommerce players have to focus on the following five things to win over customers.

Customer experience

• A compelling user interface (UI), personalized landing pages, search results and product feeds based on shopper behavior, and effective engagement of shoppers.

Product range

• Variety is the spice of life, and that works here too. An expanded range of products could attract buyers. Focusing on categories like consumer electronics, fashion, and grocery can also help a player become a go-to site.