Challenges in E-Commerce in India

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The acceptance of the ecommerce on a large scale by the people of India influenced other business players also to try this technique for their E-businesses and gain high profits. Even though online shopping has its presence since 2000 but it gained popularity only with deep discount model of Flipkart. Flipkart was founded in 2007 as started by selling books in their online marketplace. Snapdeal started on 4 February 2010 as a daily deals platform but expanded in September 2011 to become an online marketplace. Shopclues was founded in November 2011. In a way they re-launched online shopping in India. Soon other portals like Amazon, Myntra, Jabong, etc. started hunting India for their businesses.

1.3. Growth potential of e-commerce in India

Since the e-Comm. industry is rapidly growing, changes can be seen over a year. The sector in India has grown by 34% as per CAGR report, since 2009 to touch 16.4 billion US Dollars in 2014. The sector is expected to be in the range of 22 billion USD in 2015.[pic 3]

Currently, electronic Travel comprises 70% of the total electronic Commerce market. eTailing, which includes online retail and marketplaces, has become the fastest segment in terms of growth in the market having grown at a CAGR report of around 56% over 2009-2014. The size of the electronic Retail market is pegged at 6 billion US Dollars in 2015. Books, apparel and accessories and electronics are the largest selling products through electronic Retailing, which consitutes around 80% of product distribution. The increasing use of smartphones, tablets & broadband and also 3G has led to developing a consumer base which strong enough and likely to increase further. This, combined with a larger number of homegrown electronic Retail companies with their innovative business models has led to a robust electronic Retail market in India rearing to expand at high speed.

1.4. Factors that will Fuel Growth

A low (19%) which is significant but fast-growing internet population of 243 million in 2014 is an indicator of the sector’s huge growth capability in India.

It is visible that in absolute terms, India’s internet users are less by 36 million in number as compared with 279 million in the US and more than that in Japan, Brazil and Russia. However, in relation with its population, only 19% Indians access the internet. This indicates the potential of internet use in India and as internet penetration increases, the capability of growth for the electronic Commerce industry will also increase. The internet penetration is further expected to increase with the launch of pan india 4G services by all major telecom companies, entry of Reliance Jio which is expected to change the shape of Indian telecom industry and starting of DIGITAL INDIA campaign by the NDA government.[pic 4][pic 5]

A detailed analysis of the demographic profile of Internet users further testifies that electronic Commerce will rise rapidly in India in coming years. Around 75% of Internet users in India are in age group of 15 to 34 years. This category shops more than the remaining population. Peer pressure, aspirations with growth in career, fashion & trends encourage this segment to shop more than any other category and India, therefore, clearly enjoys a dividend in terms of demography that favours the growth of eCommerce. In coming years, as internet presence increases in rural areas, rural India will yield more E-Commerce business.

Communication aspects of e-commerce industry

Marketing is mainly and primarily about communication. And communication is much more than merely a collection of words. Sure what you say is important. But we should also think to focus on how you say it, when you say it, what parts you emphasize, and most important is that how your customers perceive it.

The Communication process on an ecommerce website better can be broken up into two primary categories

- Pre sales communication

Everything about the website constitutes its communication. The customer is expected to transfer money to the company with a few clicks with nothing in return for the time being. The actual product, in the case of physical products, is delivered later. If anything, this is definitely a leap of faith.

Any e-commerce company will have to make sure that its communication is effective, consistent and builds confidence in the minds of the customer.

- Post sales communication

With high expenses on pay per click, branding, and other marketing efforts, any company need to develop a loyal following. Unless it has a significant proportion of repeat customers, it is not a serious ecommerce player. Converting a new customer takes more in expensive than doing business with an existing customer.

Pre-sales issues such as price might be quite important. But post-sales the customer is only interested in the service it gets.

2.1. Tools and Channels of Communication

Here are the most trending tools for communication with the customers:

- Live Chat – Several customers love the feature of live chat. It has the advantages of getting the problem solved right now, without the irritation of keeping a telephone receiver pressed to ear while waiting. Even when the waiting period lasts a few minutes for live chat, customers complain less and as do so till when they are able to continue performing a parallel task on the same computer. Ecommerce players have shown a great amount of resistance and hesitation in providing live chat, as it is very resource intensive.

- Email – Unlike live chat, email support is a must-have and absolute for any ecommerce player. In addition to providing an support through email address, it is suggested and recommended that the website has a ticketing system, which allows for efficiently handling a case of multiple emails about the same existing issue.

- Phone Support – Quite similar to live chat, phone support is also considered to be intensive in resources. But the demand for phone support is so high that most of the electronic commerce players end up providing it.

- Product Descriptions – Product descriptions are the most voluminous communication between the ecommerce customer and merchant. Although product descriptions are not personalized, still they influence the customer to a large extent. To avoid me-too sites, it is important that the company consider the possibility of having