Three events taking place over the next year will catalyst exponential growth in ecommerce just like mobile phones in the 90’s:
1. Reliance Jio: By not only making 4G available across India but making it extremely affordable, the 70% Indians who don’t have a fast internet to transact online will now join the ecosystem. Middle class & upper middleclass Indians in 2 tier and 3 tier cities can now take the advantage of the ‘real benefits of ecommerce:
a) Low stocking costs
b) Larger product choice
c) Ease of ordering from home(especially considering the poor roads, traffic and other infrastructure issues in India)
d) Better value for money the companies can provide due to larger volumes.
2. Cashless Ecosystem: The thrust of the government in creating a cashless and transparent ecosystem will:
a) Get more Indians comfortable with using cards.
b) Reduce tax/VAT avoidance by smaller merchants by financial falsifications thereby making it a more equitable playing field for ecommerce companies.
3. Goods & Services Tax(GST): GST will enable:
a) Inter state transportation will no longer be a pain increasing customer confidence in cross border transactions.
b) Costs for logistics will come down
c) Time for transportation will come down as time lost in inter-state checks will be eliminated