Gaurav Garg
The response of the Indian economy to ecommerce has become very interesting. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the implementation of social distancing norms and lockdown measures, there is a surge in the consumer demand for ecommerce services. These services are getting increasing acceptance among consumers.
Segments such as on-demand delivery services of fresh produce, online education, e-pharmacies and online consultations are a few areas that may have found their turning point to a highway. To cope with this continuing crisis of COVID-19, companies dealing in these segments have witnessed a triple-digit growth with millions of new customers. Many customers have freshly entered this market because there was no other choice.
Apart from this surge in online services, many businesses are coming up with different approaches to deal with this crisis. For this, the retail business is tying up with online shopping platforms. They are sharing their employees and resources to meet the growing demand.
Due to the sudden declaration of lockdown and the outbreak, there was a shortage of products, especially household products. People are switching from malls and supermarkets to ecommerce for essential commodities. The sales of BigBasket and Grofers are going up and the trend is expected to continue in the coming times as well.
Fear of the spread of the virus and social distancing has led people to online shopping. Even small stores are providing online delivery. Online groceries are receiving orders in bulk but due to insufficient manpower, the issue of delayed delivery persists.
Retailers selling non-essential products like jewellery, clothes, footwear, etc have suffered huge losses. This is because consumers are buying only essentials. They are least bothered about luxury items. Due to this, these retailers have shifted their business from luxury items to essential commodities. However, they are adopting various technologies to be back on track. This might seem to be tough but they are still on a route to get back.
Moving forward, the attitude of shop owners is also expected to change as even the local kirana shops are being digitised. As people want to avoid contact, these shops have gone online and started home deliveries along with the sanitisation of the goods ordered. This digital transformation of goods has benefitted both the consumers and the retailers.
The future of ecommerce seems to be much profitable if these practices continue even after COVID-19 subsides.
(The author is Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited- Investment Advisor.)
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