E-commerce in India is expected to note a 60 per cent growth to reach US $ 28-30 billion in GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) in the current year as compared to 23 per cent (US $ 17.8 billion) growth registered in 2017, RedSeer Management Consulting anticipates.
According to Chief Executive Anil Kumar, in view of the success even during non-sale months, a better boom could be expected in e-retail this time. The market research and consulting firm says the expansion of online retail would be intensified in the year ahead as it will note a strong growth in the second half of 2018.
Funding boom in 2015 made analysts and investors predict high growth for e-retail in the country. This anticipation vanished with a growth below 15 per cent, with Flipkart and Snapdeal distancing from reduced discounting and advertising in 2016.
In 2017, Flipkart took a lead over Amazon India, with its new CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy focusing on sales of smartphones, fashion and large electrical appliances, which accounts for more than 80 per cent of all online retail. Paytm emerged as another major player as big discount sales lured customers towards e-shopping.
Overall, the company executives and analysts expect the e-commerce market to accelerate in 2018 sharply because of faster and comfort-friendly internet connections, discounting and advertising by e-commerce firms, which would primarily focus on new customers in addition to the existing ones.
