E-Commerce: The rise and rise of e-Commerce in India

The growing penetration of technology such as internet connections, broadband and services like 3G & 4G, laptops, smartphones, tablets and dongles, coupled with increasing acceptance of the idea of virtual shopping, is set to drive the e-commerce ecosystem. The e-commerce story in India would surely witness a new world of digitalization in the coming decade, with a host of start-ups emerging to compete with existing players in order to draw benefits from the new and existing markets. Over the last decade, the internet has transformed the way people buy and sell goods and services. Online retail/virtual retail or e-commerce is transforming the shopping experience of customers. The sector has seen unmatched growth especially in the last two years. The acceptance of technology is enabling the e-commerce sector to be more reachable and efficient. Banks and other players in e-commerce network are providing a secured online platform to pay smoothly via payments gateways. Indian consumers have matured over the years and increased their acceptance for various payment approaches such as net banking, mobile banking and prepaid wallets. E-commerce horizon has thus broadened owing to acceptance of online shopping as a safe shopping medium. This paper presents the concepts and definitions of e-commerce as well as worldwide internet users, ecommerce in India, and the future prospects of e-commerce in India.