Current Trends

In
Online Shopping

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Introduction:
A great deal has changed over the last decade or so due to the proliferation of technology in
virtually all aspects of life. Without any exaggeration, life is much easier now than it was say ten
to fifteen years ago. The internet in particular has greatly revolutionized the way business is done
the world over. Everything is now more efficient and convenient; it is no longer necessary to do
things physically; with just a few clicks of the mouse and strokes on the keyboard you can get a
lot of things done.

Online shopping is a testimony to just how things have changed because of the internet. That
being said it might be interesting to look at certain trends online shopping just to get a picture of
how everything is. People are now purchasing pretty much everything online from clothes to
jewellery and even appliances. No one sees the need of getting up and going to a store to
purchase something like a big screen plasma TV when they can simply make an order at the
comfort of their homes.

Something that is also quite interesting to note is the fact that more and more people are using
their mobile devices to shop online. People prefer using tablet computers, mobile phones and the
like to make their orders; today it is all about shopping on the move. An increasing number of
merchants are realizing that mobile is the way to go and therefore a lot of effort has gone into
creating fully fledged mobile ecommerce websites in order to stay in business.

From B2B to B2C, no business today can ignore the huge “Online Market” that exists on
internet. Now physical market has already and quickly being replaced with “Virtual
Market”.Companies that were once stuck in the traditional way of doing business are now
realizing that change is inevitable. As a result, these companies are coming up with e-commerce
websites to complement their physical stores. To add to that, they are targeting the social media
in an attempt to widen their customer base.

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Web users need to be prepared for aggressive advertising campaigns targeted at them from all
manner of companies in an attempt to woe them. To say the least, companies are going to be
more concerned about being more relevant online than in the physical world.

“Indian fashion and lifestyle market is set to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR)
of 12% over the next five years to reach Rs 3,94,000 crore from the currently estimated Rs
2,21,000 crore”, said an A T Kearney survey on 15th March,2016.

“Online shopping trends in India are expected to continue to grow, made easier and convenient
by deep penetration of mobile devices. Consumers indicate that they are likely to shop online
more frequently in forthcoming years”, said a CBRE India Consumer Survey 2015.

"A large majority of Indian shoppers anticipate spending more through both online as well as
physical retail platforms in coming years. However, a much larger percentage (nearly 80%) of
shoppers feel that they are likely to spend more via online shopping routes, in comparison to
those who expect to spend more at physical stores," said the survey.

Out of those who expect to spend more online, nearly 85% are in the age group of 18-24 years.

The consumer survey recently conducted by CBRE in India said almost 70% of the Indian
shoppers interviewed feel that they are likely to shop more often from a desktop / laptop; while
nearly 60% expect to use tablets / smartphones more often to shop online.

"With a large majority of the survey respondents preferring to use online platforms more often in
coming years, it becomes imperative for retailers in the country to focus more on developing
their online presence for a faster penetration into the Indian market," said Vivek Kaul, Head,
Retail Services India.

A joint study by Assocham and Grant Thornton predicts that the percentage of working women
in India grew 43 percent year on year in 2013, which constitutes 10 percent of the active users in
India. The women focused share of e-commerce market will increase from 26 percent in 2013 to
35 percent in 2016.

“The number of users making online transactions has also grown exponentially, and it is
expected to increase in the future. Government of India’s plan to rebuild and modernize the
Indian postal infrastructure and plan to implement ‘Digital India’ will also boost the e-commerce
sector,” says the study.

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