The blossoming e-commerce market in India is set to cross Rs.1 lakh crore ($15.9 billion) by December 2015, says a report from the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).
This is based on estimates of the market growing at a rate of 33% in 2015, following a 53% rise in spend during 2014.
Sectors such as travel, financial services and online shopping were crucial in driving Indian e-commerce last year as consumers flocked to online stores.
However, there has been a distinct lack of adoption for online payments across the country, with 45% of online shoppers favouring completion through cash upon delivery over payment via debit or credit card.
“Online travel has emerged as the largest segment in terms of revenue generation, followed by online retail, mainly driven by cash-on-delivery, which accounts for 50% of its sales,” said IAMAI.
Travel also performed well for digital transactions over the past year, accounting for 61% of all online sales in 2014.
Key players
Outside of the travel sector, online shopping, or e-tail as it appears in the report, has also been a key player in India of late, accounting for 76% of the remaining 29% of transactions in 2014.
Mobile phones and accessories made up 41% of e-tail, just over twice the amount generated by “apparel, footwear and personal items”, which followed with 20% of the segment.
Less popular than mobile phones, laptops/netbooks/tablets generated just 11.75% of transactions, according to IAMAI’s report.
The IAMAI represents digital businesses across India, seeking opportunities and addressing the challenges which face the industry, in addition to working to expand and enhance the online services sectors.