eCommerce – India’s Fastest Growing Commercial Industry
For cross-border sellers, expanding into India is an excellent opportunity to tap into a still developing market, where shopping habits, product preferences and marketplaces are constantly changing. India has a population of over 1.3 billion, and internet and smartphone penetration is rapidly growing, making it imperative to keep your fingers on the pulse of Indian eCommerce to remain profitable.
To give you an idea of how you can best adapt your business to the Indian market, we’ll be taking a deep-dive into the shopping trends that shape the country’s eCommerce industry.
Indian eCommerce Statistics and Shopping Trends
Currently, eCommerce penetration in India is 47.9% and is expected to reach 64.8% (920 million people) by 2023, indicating the massive room for growth in the industry. Due to India’s geography and diverse population, however, these shoppers have a wide variety of preferences when purchasing online.Payment Preferences
When it comes to payment preferences for Indian shoppers, statistics vary. The most prevalent methods include credit/debit cards, prepaid cards, bank transfer, digital wallets, such as OxiCash, and cash on delivery (COD).While COD has long been the most popular payment method among Indian shoppers, the tide appears to be rapidly turning towards debit and prepaid cards. The prevalence of cash payments is largely due to a distrust of online money transfers and a lack of fraud prevention and other digital security measures. This trend is expected to change as programs, such as the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) by the Reserve Bank of India, enables shoppers to make electronic payments securely.
Regardless of these changes, you should still be prepared to except COD payments, which are still frequently used, as well as all other popular payment methods while operating in India.
Shopping Preferences
Most Indian users prefer desktop to mobile when shopping online. That said, just like everything else in Indian eCommerce, that trend is changing. Smartphone penetration is expected to hit 829 million by 2021 and there is a clear shift towards cross-device purchasing. To cover all your bases and reach as many users as possible, optimize your store for mobile.
Product Categories
When it comes to choosing a product line for your Indian store, the following categories give you an idea of what’s popular among local shoppers and the areas in which you’re most likely to succeed.- Apparel
- Electronics
- Footwear
- Food, health & beauty supplements
- Jewelry
- Mobile phones
- Fashion accessories
- Home decor
- Kitchen ware and household appliances
Language
