India's Take on 'Online Shopping'

Rise of Online Shopping portals

As marketers are constantly looking for means to increase points of contact with the consumer, and companies are looking for cheaper means to get information and products to their users, the Internet market is bound to grow. The amount may be minuscule in the global context, but Indian online shoppers’ population is steadily making its presence felt quite remarkably.

Companies like the Future Group, Reliance Retail, RPG Cellcom, Tata Woolworths are gearing up to launch their own online shopping portals. Small retail players like Vishal Retail, Subhiksha and Spinach too are gearing up to make e-tailing as a future revenue generator.

Subhiksha's aim is to deliver across 400 towns they have their shops in. Other than shopping, the website will be designed to provide buyers with information such as new store opening, offers and promotions and so on.

Vishal Retail is also looking at internet shopping, as they plan to launch their online shopping portal in the next 4-5 months. The prices on the portal will be 5-15 % lower than what a consumer pays in their stores.

Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) state that the ecommerce market is expected to reach the Rs 9,210 crore mark by the end of 2007-08 , a growth of 30% over the current year.

Reliance Retail is on the verge of rolling out its integrated e-tailing website that will include Reliance Fresh, Digital, Trendz and other verticals. The company will set up its own call centre and a separate team for it.

As cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune are going Wi-Fi these sectors have a huge opportunity for online shopping. Retailers are also setting up facilities of value adds and experience to attract the customers where they introduce virtual shopping and a potential buyer can get a feel of moving around in a mall, and can click on the items he/she wants to buy.
Retailers are viewing IT as one of the areas, which could strengthen their market position and market share. Their main focus areas are supply chain management , point of sale systems, strategic merchandising and facilitating customer relationships.

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Challenges faced by Indian Consumers

While online shopping is a good place for bargain-hunting and to get products at a very price, it some how has not worked its charm in India. The main reason for this is that Indian consumers do not get any real value or incentive from this trend. Also they are wary about fraud, delivery and customer service which is not far from the truth. Following are some of the few challenges we face:

1. Limited choice:
Online consumers in India are facing a narrow range and limited choice of merchandize. Even the leading sites like 'ebay.in', 'indiaplaza.in', 'indiatimes' or 'rediff' have very limited range of items and therefore are hardly attractive.

2. Inefficient and delayed service:
Many cases of delayed delivery, damaged or inferior goods, quality issues and even instances of cheating where the goods were never shipped have been reported. The much proclaimed ease and convenience comes with a heavy price and overall, Consumers do not have a good experience with the results of Online shopping.

3. Overpricing of Products:
Most of the goods are overpriced and if at all any products are priced at a reasonable rate, its quality is compromised. Besides that, there is no features like exciting prices, killer deals, delivery guarantee, after sales support nor replacement warranty.

Are there takers for Online Shopping?

YES, there has always been demand for e-commerce in this country as people have less and less time to shop. Today consumers are looking for real good deals and they cannot be fooled and nor can you hoodwink them. If the Online Shop retails are able to provide value, quality, after sale support, timely delivery and reasonable deals people are willing to invest. This can be seen by the number on Indian consumers who order books and other products from international portals like Amazon.com, even if they have to pay hefty handling charges for the distance.
People are on a look out for Indian portals that does not just create a hype at the initial stages of its launch, but one that can consistently deliver quality services.

So keeping in mind all these factors, lets wait and watch what the new Retail Online Portals are preparing to offer...

What can be done to make it popular?

1. Creating E-commerce awareness:
One of the biggest challenges for Online Shopping has been the skepticism surrounding security aspects of e-commerce, which has lowered confidence levels. Online sellers need to focus on factors which will help transform the skeptical Indian consumer into someone who experiments with buying online by strengthening transaction security to gradually build up confidence in online payment.

2. More payment options:
Retailers need to create newer options for consumers like cash-on-delivery, money transfer, cheques or demand drafts, end-to-end payment; wherein the buyer can choose to directly pay
the seller online(like PayPal in the US). EBay has the facility implemented which is called 'PayPaisa'. Though credit card payments and Sodexo Passes are very popular now-a-days, there is still a lot of inhibition.

3. Greater Security awareness:
Security issues still continues to be a major drawback and trends like AVS (Address Verification System), PIN for credit cards, smart cards, digital signatures, e-cards, and easier intra- and inter-bank transactions online need to be made more prominent. Teaching Consumers to transact only on secure internet connections is also necessary.

4. Highlight the convenience with backed-up efficient services:
Though there are plenty of people who will readily embrace the new trends of Online shopping, a few many will still shun the idea due to lack of knowledge and fear of security issues. In order to hook them, Companies need to highlight more positive advantages of online shopping by providing good services, quality products and good deals and rates.

Results need to speak for itself of a major difference and positive trend of consumers switching willingly to Online Shopping.