MUMBAI: The e-commerce industry is worth USD 13 billion today and is expected to touch $ 90 billion by 2021, according to eTailing India Founder Ashish Jhalani.
This 700 percent growth will change the way organisations allocate internet advertising budgets in India, Jhalani said in a statement here today.
"E-commerce is a full-fledged industry today, from being ancillary part of the retail industry less than a few years ago. Much like Apple changed the music industry, e-commerce will not only impact retail, but also the advertising industry, Jhalani said.
Shoppers in India are increasingly using smartphones to buy products; sites such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Shopclues have reported that that up to 35 percent of their traffic comes from the mobile phone. With the high penetration of phones in India and improving internet connectivity, e-commerce firms are expected to reach millions of new users in the coming years, he said.
In line with the growth of e-commerce, one-third of the world's advertising revenue is also expected to go digital by 2018, Jhalani said.
At a recent conference, Google India declared that Indian internet users will surpass the number in the US by the end of 2014 and around 500 million people will be online by 2018.