GLOBAL SPREAD OF E-COMMERCE

    The fast development of telecommunications technology in the period of ten years is changing many aspects of our lives – how we search for information, how we travel and not at least how we buy products or services. Although classic shop-based retail is still preferred, e-commerce or electronic commerce, namely the buying and selling of products and services exclusively through electronic channels, is gaining ground. The most well-known form of e-commerce or electronic commerce is online shopping, also known as business to consumer e-commerce, where private customers can order various products which they then receive by courier or postal mail.  

    Another category of e-commerce focuses on transactions between companies, such as manufacturers and a wholesalers or wholesalers and retailers and is called business to business e-commerce. The third category of e-commerce involves transactions from consumer to consumer, as in the example of eBay or other similar websites.About 

half a decade back,  Indians were  introduced to ecommerce when Indian Railways and private airlines started selling their tickets online. 

         Even though then the number of people using the Internet was less and mostly concentrated in the metropolitans, it surprised many industry experts to see the boom. Rs. 1000crores and other companies followed suit. Currently, more and more Indians even in the second tier states of the country are using internet to buy product and services. Website services such as hotel, flight, train reservation, banking, tax and bill payment, entertainment, matrimonial sites, job sites, etc. are attracting more and more people towards the internet

     Since 2012, e-commerce in India has grown the fastest in the Asia-Pacific region. With over 250 million internet users and growth being shown at an extremely fast rate, e-commerce in India is estimated to reach 21000crores INR in 2015, which is eight times, the amount it was worth in 2009. This info graphic by voucher cloud takes a look at the growth of e-commerce in India and predicts the levels it could reach in the not too distant future.

  E-commerce industry is likely to clock a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35% and cross the$100-billion mark over the next five years, from $17 billion at present, according to an Assocham-Pricewaterhouse Coopers study. Riding on the strong growth momentum of 2015, the e-commerce sector isannual spend on online purchases per individual in 2016, estimated to see a 72%  jump in the average from the current level of 65%, the study said. 

        Although traditional media like Radio and TV hogs about 80% of advertise revenue in 2013, the share of the online advertise pie is increasing at fast pace. From just one percent in 2005, it is about 7% in 2012.The total value of online advertising in 2012 was 1750crore INR. Companies are capitalizing on the social networking sites also for their recruitment, selection and for product promotion and survey among customers. One survey pegs that by 2015 India will have 30 million online buyers and consumers adapting to ecommerce sites, compared with the 2.5 million online buyers at present. 

     Some disadvantages of ecommerce are the buyer cannot touch or feel the product online, the customer has to wait for delivery of their product, Perishable goods bought online can get spoiled during delivery and it is difficult to know when an online site is safe to use.

     Once the Indian government spreads broadband usage across the country, ecommerce services will add to more GDP every year. This is not a prediction, but a mere analysis of how things are fast moving forward.