There are myriad problem as to why e-commerce is not taking off in India and we have discussed this issue numerous times below including the contrast with the thriving e-retailing business in US.
Some of the issues, for the disenchantment with e-commerce in India, discussed in comments as well as blog posts, are related to lackadaisical shipping and non-delivery of goods at promised time.
One reason for delays in shipment may be the fact that many merchants start processing the order and shipping it only when they get money credited from the intermediaries involved in Credit card /online banking payment. This delay can be as long as 7 days from the date of transaction.
Typically, the online payments proceeds are credited to the intermediary, the payment gateway , involved in the transaction and it is the intermediaries who transfer the amount to the merchants account after deducting their commission.
As per a latest news report, RBI has now issued new norms as per which the payments would be directly credited to the merchants and not to intermediaries like CCAvenue and paypal. this means that within 3 days of transaction the merchant will have the money with it and would be ready to ship the product to the consumer.
This RBI guideline is definitely a step in the right direction and should reduce the scope for excuses on the part of merchants for poor or delayed shipments.
But we know deep on our hearts that the problem is more the attitude of the online retailers and commerce sites – that anything goes and they are not accountable- so unless that attitude is taken care of wither by litigation or more competition in the market, the consumer woos are not going to go away.
What do you think? do we need more reforms or is the underlying issues for the e-commerce not taking off in India more related to our meek consumers who do not litigate and are satisfied by substandard/delayed delivery/shipments too?