In an era when masses prefer time to money and luxury to time, nobody wants to be pushed into putting ‘extra’ effort, even while making a purchase. So, with expanded budgets and a splurge of luxury products online, population of e-stores is on a rise.
A NEW breed of consumers has emerged. Products of all categories and for all markets have become parity. Everything is available everywhere. In such a scenario, where do you think a consumer will go to buy his desired commodity and how? An inevitable fact is that people in present times value time over money and luxury over time. Be it booking an air ticket or buying grocery from the local store, nobody wants to push himself in putting that ‘extra’ effort. Therefore, web is the home for this new genre of people. With expanded budgets and a splurge of luxury products online, population of e-stores is on a rise.
This brings us to talking about the headways the online retail industry is making today. The offline Indian retail accounts for ten per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Mall space, from a meager one million square feet in 2002, is expected to touch an estimated 60 million square feet by end-2008. Well, if this made shivers run down your spine, catch this – the population of online consumers (potential and real) in India has reached 100 million by 2007-08! By 2004-05, 55 per cent of Internet users were already shopping online.
