Amazon, the world’s largest online retail seller of books and electronic gadgets, opened shop in India. Customers can now order books and pay through credit and debit cards in Indian rupees. Very soon, it will make available a host of goods which people can order from the comforts of their homes and offices. They will be delivered at their chosen addresses. Its rival eBay has also invested in infrastructure to provide its services to its Indian customers. In fact, both companies already have a large number of customers in India, who have been buying goods from them. Earlier, Apple’s iTunes was allowed to extend its services to Indian customers, who can now buy music from the world’s largest online store.
All this happens at a time when rules are being framed to allow multinational retail chains like Wal-Mart and Tesco to start their operations in India. Already single-brand companies like Nike, Bose and Apple have been allowed to open their own retail shops. It is certain that India’s retail business sector will undergo a metamorphosis once all these players are in full form. Today 93 per cent of retail business in India is in the hands of offline retailers, while the rest is with corporate retailers like Tata’s Croma. The e-tailing share currently stands at a negligible 0.1 per cent with Flipkart accounting for a major chunk of it.
With more and more people falling in for the convenience of online purchases of goods, the volume of e-commerce will see greater growth. This is borne out by the growth of online booking of air tickets. Three-fourths of the total e-commerce, valued at $10 billion, is today accounted by booking of air tickets. If manufacturers find it convenient and profitable to sell through online retailers like Amazon and eBay, surely they will lap up the model. In other words, the retail revolution is on its track and seems to be gaining momentum. Traditional retailers will have to brace up.
