Indian ecommerce market to reach $15 bn by 2016

The Indian online shopping market is all-set to touch $15 bn by the year 2016, according to a report compiled by Google and Forrester Research.

There will be over 100 mn online shoppers in India within that time frame, with an estimated 50 mn new buyers expected to join the online shopping bandwagon from tier I and tier II cities.

Back in 2012, there were just 8 mn online shoppers in India, and that number currently hovers close to the 35 mn mark. The report adds that the online buyer base in India will grow by three times by 2016, and has already seen a 12x growth in revenues over the past four years.

Mobile is indeed expected to be the game changer for the Indian online shopping space. Major players like Snapdeal are already clocking more than half their transactions through mobile.

The report also revealed that women buyers in tier 1 cities are far more active than male buyers, and outspend men by 2x. Women shoppers are also adding sheen to fast emerging online shopping categories like apparels, beauty and skincare, home furnishing, baby products and jewellery. The research finding is consistent with search query trends seen on Google which showed query volume for apparels growing at 64%.

This is apparent from the fact that 50% of all online transactions in India are still Cash-on-Delivery (COD). The report also found that 62% people who have shopped online have not been satisfied with their experience and most of such grievances came from tier 2 down cities.