We all will agree to the fact that India is the fastest-growing market for e-commerce. Growth at a rate of 51%, the highest in the world. The past 10 years clearly proved that e-commerce as a sector did not just jump from the need to extend what retail was offering, but also built its own identity by solving Indian consumer problems, including tier II and tier III cities.

As per industry estimates, the Indian e-commerce market is expected to grow to $200 billion by 2026 from $38.5 billion in 2017. In the last 10 years, the digital landscape targets the core of consumer needs and is able to win with them holistically. Within that landscape, consumer tech players have been leading market value creation. This Industry growth got a boost as an increase in internet and smartphone penetration.

The ongoing Digital Transformation in the country is expected to increase India’s total internet user base to 829 million by 2021 from 604.21 million as of December 2018. India’s internet economy as an extension is expected to double from $125 billion as of April 2017 to $250 billion by 2020, majorly backed by e-commerce.

It is a time now to see what E-commerce has for us for the next 10 years

Ecosystem Impact

Ecommerce as an industry has the potential to create 1M plus jobs by 2022, currently, it’s actively supporting and contributing to 20M plus businesses run by small and medium enterprises. Technology-enabled innovations, such as digital payments, hyperlocal logistics, analytics-driven customer engagement, and digital advertisements, not only create and fuel the growth of sub-sectors but also enable an overall ecosystem growth.

Technology and Innovation role to play

India has already made rapid strides in this direction. Diverse problems in governance, commerce, insurance, education, and healthcare, etc., are being solved through innovation and technology and delivered via the Internet. Today, sellers on e-commerce platforms have access to real-time analytics software to understand their online shoppers, which enables them not only to provide a personalized shopping experience but also use the data and insights to predict trends and prepare for them. Smart predictive analysis will enable merchants to effectively manage the value chain.

For example, the use of Point of Sale Software-  POS software is what retailers and SME’s use to conduct sales. It is where the merchant input your products, tally the cost and conduct the financial transaction. POS like ePaisa offers features like Omni payment, contactless payments, digital receipt etc which provides seamless customer experience.  But now, it’s not just retail stores that are interested in POS systems – e-commerce store owners who also have offline stores or sell at craft fairs, exhibitions, trade shows, and farmers markets etc are also in need of an inexpensive and easy-to-use point of sale solutions.

Improve Experience for future online shoppers

The future of e-commerce is in offering customers a truly personalized and premium shopping experience in the entire chain of value, from search to after-sales support. Part of this is innovating in the voice and vernacular spaces, allowing online shoppers to interact with the platform in their own languages and enabling voice commands across languages. These innovations will take e-commerce deeper into more customers

 By Pravinkumar Bhandari ,Chief Business Officer- ePaisa