Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Why are Indians apprehensive to online shopping?

The Internet provides a progressive dimension to most of the industries on global platform. The retail industry has also benefited from its online version which has resulted in the growth and expansion of the sector worldwide.

In India, e-commerce has been on a slow track in comparison to other parts of the world. There has been a visible growth in the e-retail sector yet the industry is being seen in its incipient stage. Earlier, the reasons cited for the weak response towards online shopping was blamed on the lack of Internet facilities and inadequate online transaction facilities available in the market.

Since then, there has been technological boom in India. Now, the Internet is easily accessible to urban India and even rural pockets are getting Internet accessibility at select places. Growth in the credit card industry and other online transaction methods has also been a boon for e-shopping. Despite the recent developments, response to online trading and transaction has been feeble in this part of the world.

Some of the reasons which potentially work against the industry in India include:


- Bargaining is not possible
- Product trial is generally unavailable
- Insecurity surrounding the credibility of a shopping portal
- Delays in product delivery
- Lack in the variety of products
- Social networking is restricted
- Preference to real-time shopping for get-togethers

The above mentioned reasons clearly indicate that apart from online activities like travel ticket booking and online broking, e-commerce still has a long way to go before earning the faith of the consumers. More innovative and tangible options are still awaited before the shopaholic appetite of the quintessential Indian is satisfied by these virtual stores.

3 comments:

Jen Kumar said...

Something I have personally found interesting while trying to purchase from online retailers based in India is that more often than not- the customer base they are marketing to are Indians abroad. In these cases, domestic (within India itself) shipping is not done even though the shop and site is based in India! What are your thoughts on that?

DRJG said...

Fraud is not unknown in western nations in intenet transactions, and Indian people as consumers are smart, few are likely to trust a transaction without putting a secure trust in the place one buys from and can get back to for a certainty. Besides a little prosperity in a country still to go miles ahead should not be immediately scavenged away by the huge profit level brand name and fashion based transactions that are usual for internet. Finally a well over billion people can very well have most commerce without faceless untrustworthy machine based mechanism, and this is good. There is no need for everyone to jump onto every new fashion and off the cliff like sheep. As for $$$ - most survive on far less than three digit in $ per month. Most do on half that for families comprising of three generations and about a dozen people.

Anonymous said...

Hi jennifer, sorry for replying so late, i am actually unable to see your point. Please elaborate as to what are you exactly implying when you say domestic shipping IS NOT DONE