E-tail: The next big thing in e-commerce

According to a recent survey by Google, online sales of FMCG products are likely to reach USD 5 billion by 2020. Consumer giants like HUL and the Godrej Group are racing ahead to finalise their on-line blue print to take advantage of this opportunity reports CNBC-TV18s Zahra Khan, Surabhi UpadhyayYou may have bought phones, clothes, or even furniture online, but now get ready to think e-commerce on an even more closer and frequent basis. The online revolution is trickling down to the FMCG business and having gauged the explosive growth of e-retail and its future potential, companies, are getting ready to be where the shopper is headed.Vivek Gambhir, MD, Godrej Consumer said, “Our sense is that by 2020 almost 7-8 percent of FMCG sales will happen through the e-commerce route. Last year we had about 6-7 launches and next year we plan to bring it to about 10 launches.”Godrej Consumer has already set up a team to chalk out details of its e-commerce foray. The company isn't yet sharing details on what brands it plans to sell online, but it does says that apart from retailing its traditional categories it will also develop specific brands and products for the online channel.Gambhir further added, “We started the team and brought in some people from other technology companies to join this team. We are in discussion with several market places, Flipkart or Snapdeal and a few others to essentially forge deeper partnerships so we are engaging in join business plans.”And Godrej isn't alone. FMCG giant HUL is busy planning its online retail strategy as well. In its response to a query posted by CNBC-TV18, HUL said, “HUL recognizes e-commerce as an important platform to reach out to consumers and shoppers in India. We are confident of maintaining our fair share in this emerging channel by capitalising on the power of our brands. We are also investing significantly to develop e-commerce capabilities and are experimenting with different business models.”According to a Google survey, online FMCG sales in India amount to just about USD 300 million at present and are expected to value to about USD 5 billion in the next five years - An exciting opportunity for consumer companies to boost sales, at a distribution cost that's much lower than traditional brick and mortar retail.