From furniture to jewellery: In 2014, Indians fully embraced online shopping

Kolkata: Lured by heavy online discounts and easy home delivery of almost any product at the click of a button, shopping for Indians will never be the same again after 2014. What was limited to books, gadgets and few accessories in the earlier years, now includes apparel, kitchen items, consumer durables, high-end jewellery, furniture, or any other product you can think of buying over the Internet.

According to a latest study by Assocham-PwC, about 40 million consumers purchased something online this year and the number is expected to grow to 65 million by 2015.

The big breakthrough in e-commerce came in October when the big three aka Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal went into an overdrive to win customers and offered pre-Diwali sales with eye-popping discounts. Gadgets like smartphones, tablets, laptops, computer peripherals, consumer electronics, etc were sold way below their market price.

Flipkart claimed to have sold goods worth $100 million (over Rs 600 crore) within 10 hours of its ‘Big Billion Day’ on 6 October but disrungtled bargain hunters complained of technical glitches and cheating. Snapdeal also pegged its sales figure to a similar amount while Amazon didn’t disclose figures.

In the past, many would research online about products and then buy it from a shop. Now the trend has reversed as people walked into shopping malls to try on the clothes or shoes they want and then go home to get a good deal online.

Consumers in smaller cities also joined the bandwagon as standalone shops noticed a drop in sales. To retain his customer base, a computer hardware seller in the small Howrah town of West Bengal put up this board outside his shop: “Why buy online? We will offer you a lower price”.

Shopping malls which had high footfalls couldn’t translate it into an equivalent high turnover as they struggled to be more than just hangout joints.

As smartphones become common and Internet access gets easier, buying online has gotten simpler with mobile apps. Cash on delivery option also attracted a whole new set of customers as it meant that those outside the ambit of netbanking or credit cards could also shop online.

It also won over those who were pessimistic about the quality of stuff bought over the Internet as they could see the product before paying.

Google’s annual Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) kept the momentum going at the end of this year with 80 lakh visitors to the site in three days. Interestingly, high-value products like flats, cars and bikes were also sold online.

PTI