E-Commerce in India: Growth and Opportunities

The term Electronic commerce or E-Commerce consists of all business activities carried on with the use of electronic media, that is, computer network. It involves conducting business with the help of the electronic media, making use of the information technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). In simple words, Electronic commerce involves buying and selling of goods and services over the World Wide Web. Customers can purchase anything right from a car or a cake sitting comfortably in his room and gift it to someone sitting miles apart just by click of a mouse. Shipping method is generally used for the delivery of the goods ordered. India is showing tremendous growth in the E-commerce. The low cost of the PC and the growing use of the Internet is one of reasons for that. There is a growing awareness among the business community in India about the opportunities offered by E-Commerce. The future does look very bright for e- commerce in India with even the stock exchanges coming online providing online stock portfolio and status with a fifteen minute delay in prices. This paper looks at some of the different definitions of E-Commerce as well as the importance of E-Commerce. It then goes on to discuss growth of E-Commerce in India and developing countries. Finally if concludes with the opportunities of E-Commerce in India.