In the latest study on the ‘State of Ecommerce’ in India conducted by ASSOCHAM and Comcast has unearthed several interesting aspects of Internet usage in the country, and the penetration of retail shopping using digital medium. 
Key findings
– India has added 7 million new Internet users who shop online, as per July data.
– Overall, eCommerce in India has been able to reach 53.4 million Internet users, which means penetration of 65%. This number is growing at a rate of 15% per year
– Females first time users of ecommerce constitute 40% of this overall share of new Internet users in India
– 75% of all new Internet users belong to age bracket of 15-34 years – Flipkart+Myntra combined attracted 26 million unique visitors last year, thereby becoming India’s largest retail sites (excluding visits from mobile sites and apps)
– Jabong with 23.5 million unique visitors is at #2 and Amazon with 16.9 million unique visitors is at #3
– India has the youngest population of ecommerce and Internet users all over the world
– Top 5 online categories which witnessed maximum growth last year: Social Networking, Search, Travel, Entertainment and News portals
– Travel niche has witnessed maximum growth as all sub-categories including air travel, online travel consultants, hotel bookings etc have witnessed excellent growth
Travel niche in India is growing at a rate of 3.4% per annum, compared to 15.3% of ecommerce niche
– Make My Trip has reached 8.9% of all Internet users in India; Yatra has a reach of 7.6% and ClearTrip reaches 3.5% of Internet users in India
– Apparel niche is growing at a rate of 66% per year, whereas fragrances and cosmetics grew at 12%; Health and Home Furnishing are sectors which are growing excellently.
– Among all BRIC countries, India has the third largest user base of Internet retail shoppers
– China with 103 million Internet users who shop online has the largest user base among BRIC countries (end of June data)
– Russia is growing at a rate of 32% per year, as it has added 13 million new eCommerce shoppers
– Brazil has added 6 million new users of ecommerce last year, as its growing at a pace of 13% per year
– Globally, 1.3 billion Internet users visited ecommerce sites, making them the largest industry on the web
– Globally, Travel niche has shown maximum growth among all industries online; Last year, 660 million Internet users from all over the world visited travel websites and this number is growing at a rate of 8.7% annually (global scale)
The report provides a glimpse of the unprecedented growth which Indian eCommerce industry is currently witnessing, which is fueled by billion dollar revenues of Flipkart and billions of dollars of investment promise by Amazon along with several more investments and ventures in this space.
Jabong, Snapdeal and eBay are closely following the industry leaders, and collectively, this is an amazing time to be in the industry. Do share your opinions and insights based on the findings of this latest report by commenting right here!
