Mumbai, 14th May 2024: The Indian e-commerce sector after having established itself on the online front is now looking at a strong offline presence through physical outlets to enhance customer experience, according to industry experts at the two-day Phygital Retail Convention that concluded here, Thursday.
As per the India Phygital Report 2024, e-commerce now accounts for 8-10 percent of the total retail market and will reach 14 percent by 2026-27. The increase in share was led by an increased active user base between 275-312 million, which could go up to 439 million by 2026-27.
However, Physical stores are back in vogue with only online brands seen increasingly exploring to establish their offline presence.
Speaking at the convention, Sandip Hazra, Director of Price Water house Coopers India said that top online-only retailers like Amazon, and Alibaba have already created their physical offline presence globally to establish a strong emotional connect with the consumers and several such trends are seen in the Indian context.
Driven by internet penetration and seamless digital payment infrastructure, the Indian e-commerce market size which is already over USD 100 billion could go up by over three times in the next five years, according to industry experts.
Apparel & accessories accounted for 18.8 percent of e-commerce penetration, 6.1 percent for home furnishing, but remains dismal at 2.1 percent for jewelry, the report said.
The informed Indian consumer is seen as cautious when it comes to purchasing high-value items without inspection, which is reflected in jewelry purchases online relatively lower compared to apparel.
Early movers from online to offline among retail brands include Caratlane – the online jewelry brand, but several non-jewelry brands too are seen exploring offline presence to offer customer experience.
Lingerie brand Zivame, and eyewear retailer Lenskart among several others have already joined the bandwagon to shift from only online to both online and offline.
Infiniti Mall has housed a few such only online retail brands that had opted for physical presence. These include Neemens, Zivame, Mamaearth, MYOP, and Nykaa, said Gaurav Balani – Deputy General Manager – Marketing, Infiniti Mall.
Off-late there have also been several D2C (direct-to-consumer) brands estimated to reach a size of USD 100 billion by 2025 that are increasingly making their offline presence, industry experts at the convention said.
