E-commerce in India: Over 50 million consumers stopped shopping online after their first purchase, says study

Even though India has logged rapid e-commerce growth, the picture isn’t all that rosy for the big players as over 50 million consumers stopped shopping online, in the last 12 months, after making their first purchase, a media report said, citing a survey. The findings of a nine-month long research project, by Google, Bain & Company and the Omidyar Network, showed that 54 million Indian stopped shopping online after their first transaction, The Economic Times reported. Most of those who dropped out were first-time internet users from lower income groups, the report said. A language barrier reportedly discouraged those consumers as most e-retail platforms are in English, and at times in Hindi. [caption id=“attachment_4866701” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] E-commerce players now stare at a challenging task as they attempt to bring those consumers back to their platforms. In March this year, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia called for a comprehensive national e-commerce policy to tap opportunities in this segment. According to her, the country was not entirely ready to tap  opportunities offered by e-commerce and there was a crying need to ensure that various arms of the government, like the Department of IT, Finance and the Department of Posts were on the same page to capitalise on business prospects offered by the digital space. Teaotia said that while B2C (business-to-consumer) commerce transactions in India were growing rapidly at a compounded annual growth rate of 34 percent, there was a need for pegging aspirations realistically as the growth had taken place on a low base. With inputs from IANS