The Online Retailing in India or ecommerce is catching fire in India - while it is less than 1% of overall Indian retail, it is already 10% of organized retail and many predict it will be 8% of the total retail market by 2020!
As the competition hots up, we take a good look at the Indian ecommerce market, its leading players, and their business models including the viability of what all of us love — discounts. We try to understand if Alibaba’s business model may have lessons for Indian retailers.
The fundamentals of doing business online are not radically different from offline and the laws of economics will catch up with the former as well. With many offline retailers looking to bridge the ‘online’ gap, we looked at the viability of an omni-channel strategy, deployed successfully in developed countries. The competition to offline is real and business models will have to evolve — it will be an ominous threat to those who are oblivious. The online retailers’ products may be delivered in a day, but a winner will not emerge so quickly — out of the rollercoaster ride of discounts, mega sales, and promotions may emerge a business model that is unique to India
