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6 Factors Driving Indian E-Commerce

Category: Growth Hacks

6 Factors Driving Indian E-Commerce
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

6 Factors Driving Indian E-Commerce

The Indian E-commerce scene has exploded in recent times, with many different segments being created by niche players, with the most nascent being Foodtech. India has come a long way with respect to e-commerce and the evolution has been really rapid, befitting the world’s fastest growing large economy.

The growth of e-commerce is tremendous in Indian context, considering that traditionally India has been a cash oriented economy with offline retail stores driving purchases by the consumer. Currently, India adds 6 million new consumers* to the e-commerce industry, every month. This scale of growth is unprecedented in any other market and goes to show the potential of the Indian e-commerce market.

The following key drivers of Indian e-commerce are almost unique to India, as some of these points are intrinsic to Indian consumer behavior:

  • Convenience & Trust: It took some time for e-commerce players to gain the trust of the consumer and shed the initial belief that products available at some of the largest online marketplaces were used products. This is because for a long time, the Indian e-commerce space was dominated by e-bay which used to sell used products in India, operating in a marketplace environment. However, as prominent players entered the market backed by a solid supply chain and great marketing & communications, the quintessential Indian consumer realized the convenience of e-commerce and developed a trust with the portal.

 

  • Price: A typical Indian buyer is very price conscious and bargains heavily. They are always looking out for deals. This perception is widely regarded as being true. Price has always been the trump card for Indian e-commerce players as most of the products that are available online are cheaper than the same products available offline.

 

  • Payment Options: With the advent of digital wallets and UPI (Unified Payments Interface), the payment options have grown over the years. Earlier on, most e-commerce players grew because of the success of the Cash on Delivery (COD) model, which was rather prevalent in India, due to a large amount of Cash being circulated in the economy. It is only in recent times, due to the demonetization drive, Indians have jumped on to the electronic payments bandwagon.

 

  • Digital India: The government of India’s Digital India initiative has been a key factor in enhancing internet penetration across the country, which has led to a whole host of services being digitally delivered. The invariable result of increase in internet penetration has been the fact that apart from accessing essential services digitally, the consumer has taken to online shopping and online payments, big time.

 

  • Domestic Consumption: Any world renowned economist will tell you that the India growth story has been driven by domestic demand and the high consumption of the ever aspirational Indian consumer. The obvious macroeconomic scenario had to play out in the e-commerce space as well.

 

  • Language: Most e-commerce portals in India are in English and that has played a big role in the growth of the industry, as India has the largest English speaking middle class population. Moreover, the regional language versions of popular sites have nonetheless played a critical role in the growth of large scale e-commerce portals.

Despite the growth of Indian e-commerce, much remains to be tapped in terms of SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises) hopping onto the online space and selling internationally, as in exporters. PayTabs can help you make the online shift and help your business go global. Now, it is easy to receive online global payments. Explore now and Sign up for a free demo!

*Data Source: Wikipedia

8 years ago
Currencies Form the Core of Payments
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Currencies Form the Core of Payments

It’s a no-brainer! Everybody out there knows that to buy or sell any product or service through any medium, one would need a transacting currency. The status quo on most transactions, whether online or offline, is the fact that you would need to pay in the currency of the country where you are buying the product from, even if it is online.

But, with the advent of global e-commerce, the status quo on currencies while transacting becomes a deterrent. It is largely due to the willingness of most payments solution providers not to deal with the cumbersome regulations in place in most countries which provide a hindrance for multi-currency payments being made online.

It is not as much as a regulation problem, as it is a regulatory acceptance problem. Most regulators, as in central banks haven’t yet figured out a way to regulate payments in foreign currencies made in multiple currencies through the digital medium. Barring the most accepted currency, i.e. the US Dollar, which is largely used as a de-facto foreign exchange currency across the world, regulators are mostly wary about international payments made in other currencies, especially online.

Having said that, most developed countries and a few forward looking emerging economies have updated their regulations to allow for payments in multiple currencies. However, contrary to popular belief, there aren’t many providers in the market, who possess a seamless global payments processor.

PayTabs has always been ahead of the curve in terms of innovation and one of our key differentiating factor is the fact that we accept 160+ currencies on our platform.

To learn more about our payments platform, click here. Moreover, if you are interested, you can sign up for a free demo as well.

We encourage you to comment on this post, by providing your insights and viewpoints.

8 years ago
The State of Global Payments: Part 2
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

The State of Global Payments: Part 2

In one of our earlier posts, we touched upon the upsurge in non-cash transactions across the world and how developing countries are driving the growth of online/digital payments. We looked at some hard numbers from Capgemini’s World Payments Report which justified the growth in non-cash transactions across the world.

In this piece, we will look at key trends that are key to driving global payments in 2017 and the future:

  1. Technology vis-à-vis International E-Commerce: It is indeed true that international transactions have increased in recent times but the subsequent pace of developing fast, secure, transparent and efficient solutions have not quite been there. Currently, there’s a need for more payments solution to cater to the growth in international e-commerce.

 

  1. Need for Agility and Pace: Whilst the growth in FinTech investments over the years, there is currently a tremendous hunger in the marketplace, for companies to deliver more instant gratification moments in terms of payments and flexibilities in payments solutions. Which means different types of payments solutions accepting multiple currencies.

 

  1. Enterprise Payments: As per the World Bank’s Cost of Sending Remittances report, checks are still prevalent in most organizations across the world, especially smaller organizations. As of 2015, 90% of small organizations across the world, used checks for making payments, primarily to freelancers and commission based sales force. Large banks and credit card technology companies still dominate the international payments space, which is plagued by complexities and very high fees. There’s a huge scope for new age payments solutions providers to solve some pressing international payments issue in the B2B space.

 

  1. The case of the Unbanked: According to a Citibank report in March 2016, there are still 2.8 billion unbanked and underbanked people in the world, especially in developing countries, where FinTech solutions have outpaced the penetration of legacy banking. The key to the growth of FinTech and Payments solutions has been because of the huge growth in mobile payments, aided by the tremendous penetration of mobile in developing countries.

 

  1. Banks and Technology need to be friends: Banks need to accept and recognize the fact that digital payments can do much more than automation. Digital and online payments solution providers shouldn’t view banks as their adversaries, rather recognize the value that they are adding to the global financial system, thereby cultivating opportunities for greater innovation and efficiency through collaboration.

 

  1. Transparency: There’s been a paradigm shift in the needs of the global payments market, in the context of more transparent pricing, flexibility in integrations and innovative customer service. It is an imperative for global payments solution providers to track all transactions in the entire payment process/cycle to ensure transparency.

 

Therefore, as you can probably gauge that despite growth in FinTech and digital payments, there remains a lot of opportunities/gaps in the marketplace that needs to be fulfilled/filled.

We would love to hear your viewpoints in the comments below and click here to experience a new economy payments solution that truly manages to fill existing gaps and adds tremendous value for your business.

Click here to read State of Global Payments: Part 1

8 years ago
Don’t Worry About Your Subscriptions!
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Don’t Worry About Your Subscriptions!

Subscribe Now!

You have implemented a subscription model for your online or offline platform. Well that action proves that you are ready to provide a service on a recurring basis. It gives you an opportunity to convert your customer base and make them captive. The advantage of having a long term captive customer base through a subscription model is immense for a business.

Having said that, you would also need to ensure that your subscriptions are being managed properly and as the volume grows, you would need a payment solution to manage the subscriptions/recurring payments. A solution that enables you to have the following features:

  • Customization in terms of integration with all types of subscription models.
  • In built information security: Data security is critical in today’s day and age.
  • Multiple Currencies: Today’s global customer demands flexibility in terms of paying in a currency of their choice.
  • Smart Saved Cards: Even if your customer changes his or her card number, the service should not be interrupted.
  • Quick Implementation irrespective of your recurring billing scenario.
  • Automated Invoicing: You should be able to schedule invoices and automate your invoicing process to save time.
  • Real-time Analytics: The solution should have in built real-time metrics related to recurring payments and subscriptions.

All of the above payment solution features are quintessential for your subscriptions to drive business value. Moreover, the delivery of these features should be done in a seamless manner, by enhancing your customer’s checkout and renewal experience. It is not only about your customer; you should also be able to manage your subscriptions in a seamless fashion.

Learn more about our recurring payments solution and sign up for a free demo if you wish.

Talking of subscriptions, you can subscribe to our blog alerts to receive more insights on e-commerce, payments and how PayTabs can add value to your business.

 

8 years ago
Payments Form The Core of Digital India
Mohab Growth Hacks 0

Payments Form The Core of Digital India

The Indian e-commerce market is estimated to grow to $102.8 Billion by 2020. With a growing internet penetration and a plethora of private and government commercial services being offered through the web, that number doesn’t seem unrealistic.  India is by far, one among the top 3 markets for e-commerce globally. If you thought the $100 bn+ figure is staggering, hold your breath because leading research consulting firm Boston Consulting Group(BCG) estimates that the Indian Digital Payments Industry will grow to $500 Billion by 2020.

In recent times, the world has seen a FinTech revolution and India has been at the forefront of spearheading that revolution. The increase in adoption of digital and mobile payments has been staggering and as a testimony, 50% of India’s population is expected to be part of the digital payments industry 2020, according to the Boston Consulting Group.

The growth has been driven by a tremendous government push in digital payments arena fueled by the Digital India proposition.  Several government services at the federal and the state level have migrated in the digital space and encourage digital payments. The growth has been also aided by the fact that majority of the population has an Aadhar card number, which enabled reliable delivery of many essential services through authentic verification.

Having said that, the Indian digital payments scene is largely focused around domestic payments. There’s a large untapped market for international payments. We know that the regulations for international payments is not easy in India, but things are changing rapidly. There is tremendous scope for Indian exporters who are selling online, internationally to ramp up their operations. Not to mention, there’s enough room for exporters who aren’t online, to get their businesses online and sell to the world.

PayTabs is uniquely positioned as a key player in the Indian Payments space, specializing in International Payments. You can visit our website for more information and sign up for a demo if you would like to explore the power of our end to end international payments solution.

8 years ago