Indian Scenario

Internet retailing has picked up in India in the last year or so. Online shopping sites have started making good money. Research shows that online retailing has made close to $511 million (Rs.2, 300 Crore) in 2006-07. This is just a diminutive part of the total organized retail sector, which is estimated to be about $12 billion (Rs.52, 000 Crore).

Online shopping in India began with the small low cost articles like cassettes and books, while gradually apparels and other high-margin goods like the consumer durables have joined the bandwagon. Many big brick-and-mortar retailers for example, Kishore Biyani of the Pantaloon, has come up with the site like futurebazaar.com, where different brands and goods are sold at good price. Leading online retail sites like ebay, rediff, indiatimes etc are making decent sales and expanding aggressively.

The main consumer of the online retail is the youth of the country. It is estimated that approximately 80 per cent of the internet buyers are male. About 25 per cent of these buyers are between 18-25 years age, 46 per cent of buyers are between 25-35 years age.

The potential of the online retail industry in India and worldwide is immense, but to believe that it will take over traditional brick-and-mortar retail is a misconception. Both channels of retail are going to co-exist and in fact help each other in providing the consumer with good shopping experience.

Graphic details of the Indian online retail market:

Where Do The Shoppers Live?