Indian ecommerce sector expected to expand threefold in 2015

While marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Flipkart and Snapdeal have increased choices by adding sellers on their platforms and improving delivery efficiency, it is estimated that Indian e-commerce companies combined gross merchandise value (GMV) for 2015 will be over USD 12 billion, as compared with USD 4.5 billion in 2014, business-standard.com reports. Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal control nearly 80% of the countrys ecommerce market, even as competition is set to get more intense with Reliance Industries betting on offering goods online by March, 2016.

The overall ecosystem is growing. The good part is that many small guys are also growing rapidly with an increase in their shopper base and GMV. Even a niche ecommerce firm in furniture or baby goods is growing three to four times a year, said Nitin Bawankule, head of ecommerce at Google India, the source cites.

Rural-focused online commerce firm StoreKing says it has grown 10 times in 2015 while focusing on selling goods to the unserved rural markets in India. The firm expects its business to remain high, as its rural customer base has limited access to traditional shops.

The Indian shopper base, largely on smartphones, would increase to 60 million in 2015, up from around 40 million in 2014. Likewise, over half a million small firms are registered with ecommerce marketplaces selling goods from smaller towns to consumers across the country.

Snapdeal, an early entrant in India with a marketplace model, has a significant consumer and seller base in the country today. The ecommerce firm, which declined to reveal its yearly sales growth, is aiming to hit USD 10 billion in GMV by March 2016. The companys GMV target for the same month in 2014 was USD 3 billion. Flipkart has also estimated similar growth numbers. Nearly 40% of Indias retail consumption takes place during the holiday season, from September to December.