pleasure and socialising more than it is an act of acquiring things one needs in order to survive. Ever since the concept of marketplaces dawned on human society, shopping has been synonymous with socialising. The idea only evolved with our modern day plush shopping malls that cater to the needs (and greed) of all age groups, from grocery markets to apparel stores, equipped with playing zones to take care of kids of shopaholic parents and replete with restaurants to quench hunger and thirst when shoppers become hungry. No wonder buying isn’t business anymore; it is retail therapy for the soul, as once swore the glamorous tennis star Maria Sharapova.

However, the purchase of merchandise, from everyday necessities to high-end luxuries is experiencing a new wave of change, a slow but strong undercurrent that has already changed the face of global trade and is sure to become a dominant force in the ever-expanding world economy. This new behemoth is called e-commerce that also goes by the synonyms of online shopping, internet trade, etc. This baby, though not very new in town, is recently gaining a more than strong foothold in developed countries and making its presence felt in developing economies like India and the subcontinent. Buying things over the internet, which is the underlying concept of e-commerce with payment modes ranging from credit cards to net banking to the newly popular cash-on-delivery has revolutionized the international retail market in more ways than one. Sure it doesn’t have the sensual appeal of being able to spend an evening with your beloved in the neighborhood mall while you pick your favorite brand’s shirt or buy a novel written by your favorite author, but there’s one crucial department where it wins points. The ability to save time for the modern day, urban busy workforce, who also need to purchase their books and stationery and gadgets but lack the time or energy to visit a store to do so. Internet trade is one life-saver for them in a world where time means money.

It all started with Jeff Bezos and his 1994 venture called Amazon.com, the name that has now become synonymous with e-commerce. It will only be justified to say that they are the pioneers of internet trade. Starting off as online dealers of books, Amazon grew over the years as an e-retail giant. eBay, another US company that started as an online auctioneer, followed suit. It was established in the following year and is reputed to be as one of the few companies that survived the dot com burst of the early 2000’s when internet companies’ stock prices fell sharply and many perished. Clarity in the buying mechanism, simplistic payment methods and timely delivery of the merchandise to the doorstep of buyers perhaps spelled their success stories. The rapid growth in internet connection subscribers in the late ’90s in the US and Europe coupled with the increasing number of credit card holders propelled the growth of e-commerce in those nations. The retail world has found its new baby, and it was about to stay.

The entry and survival of e-commerce, however, was far from easy in the developing sub-continent, especially in India. In a country where dubious consumers rarely buy things except from their trusted stores or reputed shops, buying products from internet portals, where let alone judging the trustworthiness of the dealer, it is not even possible to see the product before buying, e-commerce was a distant dream until recently. Credit cards or online banking that served as the transaction medium for payments served as a further deterrent. Not only were such commodities a rarity in India even a few years back, their use to buy products that can only be physically delivered days after the payment is made by consumer made e-retailers an object of distrust.

Flipkart.com, a venture founded by IIT graduates Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in 2007 should be credited with breaking the jinx in the Indian e-commerce market. Not only did the company survive in the Indian e-commerce market, they revolutionized it. They banked upon certain strategies which charted out the path of their success. In their early days, they sold only books in their portal, but at heavily discounted prices. And all of their books are new and original copies, not pass offs or fakes. They delivered the books at the customer’s doorsteps at no extra charge levied upon the customer. To top it all, they provided cash-on-delivery in almost all major cities and towns as their payment options. The customers got their deals at lower prices, delivered to them at their locations and they did not need fear being cheated, as payment had to be made only upon delivery. Flipkart became the talk of the town amongst Indian consumers of e-retail. Initially, they depended on only word of mouth advertising, which they ensured they got through lightning fast deliveries which often were faster than the time period promised - a tradition that continues till date. Their products were rarely received damaged, courtesy the superb packaging while delivering the merchandise and they maintained clarity in the delivery process by enabling customers to check where their products were through real-time updates of the status of the couriers. The company grew with unbelievable pace and expanded to selling electronic gadgets, mobile phones, televisions, gaming consoles, etc. Its marketing campaign now constitutes of TV advertisements, online popups and banners and billboards not to mention the positive feedback of satisfied customers. In a recent statement, flipkart revealed recording a massive 8000+ transactions per day in its portal, an unparalleled figure so far in India.

However, recently flipkart is reportedly facing the heat from its rivals, a number of which mushroomed post its success and heavily copied the business model. Jabong, snapdeal, yebhi and many more are now doing brisk business, thriving on sales of everything imaginable. The e-commerce market of India grew to such an extent that the global pioneer of this field, Amazon, decided to make their mark in the Indian e-commerce scenario with the launch of Junglee.com earlier this year. Reports confirm that Indian e-commerce market stand at a valuation of USD 10 billion this year, a figure that is projected to soar up to USD 260 billion by 2025.

With the advent of more and new players in the industry, prices get slashed, facilities and add-ons get into the cards and customers end up benefitting. Flipkart has also added card payment on delivery as a payment option, a move hitherto not copied by competitors. It still continues to ride the wave of the first mover’s advantage in the industry and reports great sales figures. However, trade pundits have confirmed something of a slowdown owing to new players who are not leaving any stone unturned to catch the attention of customers. Amazingly, almost all of them have managed to crawl up to the good books of loyalist consumers whom they don’t forget to treat from time to time with reward points and loyalty discounts. Indian consumers, apparently, are caught in the web!