Same Day Delivery: The Best Way To Grow Your Online Store in 2023

Technologies are constantly evolving and further revolutionizing how customers purchase products and services online and offline. The introduction of e-commerce in the 2000s began the online shopping revolution. Over the decades, increased internet penetration and smartphone usage have further increased the preference for online purchase platforms. With the increase in competition among quick online retail and online shopping platforms, companies have to adopt a variety of channels and strategies to reach out to their customers and engage them.  This is where omnichannel strategies come in!

Seamless Integration of Online and Offline Channels

Omnichannel strategy means connecting with customers on various channels. An effective omnichannel strategy must combine online and offline. It means seamlessly integrating multiple customer touchpoints online and offline to build a consistent brand experience. For instance, tech advancements in customer journeys online need to be reflected in offline deliveries through a robust network.

Personalized recommendations and customized services

Customers are increasingly seeking personalized experiences. This advanced approach significantly enhances customer experience and leads to long-term loyalty. Businesses get access to deep insights into individual customer preferences, needs, and behaviors by utilizing data, advanced analytics, and AI. These technologies enable brands to offer highly tailored experiences, making customers feel truly valued. For example, food delivery platforms use real-time data to create customized customer journeys based on user preferences.

Personalization in food delivery means crafting unique experiences for each customer, regardless of location. This strategy ensures more personalized and convenient interactions. A delivery service might use click-to-WhatsApp ads to provide personalized recommendations, suggesting dishes or cuisines aligned with the customer's tastes. When the customer clicks the ad and places an order, they receive a confirmation from the delivery company and real-time updates about their order's progress, creating a seamless, end-to-end journey on a single platform.

24/7 Customer Support

With a 24/7 shopping experience available to people, consumers also expect round-the-clock customer support. As an online retail business, one can address customer concerns through an omnichannel support system, regardless of how customers choose to reach out to your brand, like Instagram, WhatsApp, or email. When implementing an omnichannel strategy for customer support and service, it is crucial to prioritize the user's comprehensive experience across all channels. This includes interactions with customer service representatives, accessing information on your website and other platforms, and engaging with your products or services.

E-commerce platforms benefit from this approach by addressing every touchpoint. Personalized campaigns are delivered through preferred channels, repetitive customer queries are handled via WhatsApp, and notifications about items in the cart are sent, all with 24/7 availability. These cross-channel services from e-commerce platforms have transformed the online shopping experience.

Robust Delivery Network

The omnichannel retail environment thrives on delivery networks that ensure a consistent and superior customer experience. As expectations for speed and convenience rise, even a slight delivery delay can prompt nearly half of shoppers to consider alternative options. Meeting these high expectations hinges on efficient fulfillment operations, with orders picked and packed within two to four hours. Consumers now expect rapid, almost immediate delivery, challenging traditional supply chains, especially regarding same-day service. This pressure extends to wholesale distributors who must meet these demands. The relevance of a robust omnichannel strategy is evident, with 90 percent of retail leaders deeming it critical for success.

Conclusion

In 2024, the overarching view of retail and logistics highlights that strong delivery networks are not merely a part of the discussion — they are the central theme. These networks have revolutionized multimodal distribution, seamlessly integrating various transport modes to guarantee products move through the supply chain efficiently and reliably. This results in a solid connection between online and physical shopping, ensuring a seamless customer experience for omnichannel and unified commerce.

Authored By

Paridhi Joshi, AVP at FNP (Ferns and Petals.com)

The market for Internet First Brands (IFB) is rapidly evolving in India with several brands across categories developing on the back of online marketplaces.
 
Customer desire to try new brands coupled with company willingness to experiment with niche ingredients and materials is propelling the growth of 'Internet first' consumer companies, highlights a report by Praxis Global Alliance and Brands Decoded.

The report noted that incumbent brands are losing share to IFBs and are fighting back by establishing a deeper online presence and leveraging deeper distribution capabilities.

"Eventual shift from brand to product loyalty can reduce customer lifetime value and increase churn; high capital and customer acquisition costs limit offline advertising and expansion," it said.

While incumbent brands typically take 9-12 months to launch new products, IFBs have been successful in launching products quickly, in 3-4 months at the back of their deep understanding of online customers, it noted.
 

While online marketplaces are experiencing growth and accelerated adoption, they continue to face operational complexities due to government and judicial overreach in several instances, said a report released by the E-Business Council of India (TECI), along with PwC India & Fidus Law Chambers.

The report analyses various aspects relating to intermediary liability of online marketplaces. It also focuses on those intermediaries which are online marketplaces providing e-tail and e-consumer services (including e-travel).

It notes that in addition to providing access, choice and convenience to consumers and enhancing market reach for sellers, online marketplaces are an important source of value-addition to the economy through their contribution towards employment, supply chain, exports and the promoting of digital payments.

"In the light of these benefits, it is crucial that an enabling regulatory regime is created to reduce the operational bottlenecks faced by online marketplaces," said the report titled 'Understanding Intermediary Liability for online marketplaces'.

Currently, the Information Technology Act, 2000, governs online marketplaces as intermediaries and also defines their functions.

Additionally, various other economic and sectoral regulations and policies like FDI guidelines, the consumer protection (e-commerce) rules, the legal metrology packaged commodities rules, and the trade marks Act limit the roles and responsibilities of online marketplaces to the functions that they provide, it said.

"However, despite having a distinct regulatory framework for intermediaries, it is observed that intermediaries are often penalised for the activities of their users, without the former's role being assessed or investigated adequately," it said.

The report had also made recommends for certain amendments in the IT Act in order to strengthen intermediary liability regime in India, with the objective to help create an enabling and predictable operating environment for online marketplaces.

The report focuses on those intermediaries which are online marketplaces providing e-tail, e-travel and e-consumer services.
 

India's e-commerce market is expected to increase by 84 percent by 2024 to $111 billion. The growth will be driven by mobile shopping, which is projected to grow 21 percent annually over the next four years.

According to a new report from global financial technology company FIS, the global trends in digital commerce accelerated under the pandemic.

Countries including India have seen a shift in consumer behaviour caused by Covid-19, and new payment trends are shown to be on the rise.

"The Indian e-commerce industry has witnessed a huge upsurge due to Covid-19 and there is substantial room for future growth," Phil Pomford, Managing Director of Asia Pacific, Worldpay from FIS, said in a statement.

"E-commerce capability is no longer limited to just traditional websites, and physical retail has blended with the digital world," he added.

In India, ‘buy now, pay later’ is the fastest growing online payment method.

Currently only three percent of the market, based on analysis in the report, is projected to increase to 9 percent by 2024.

Digital wallets (40 percent) followed by credit card (15 percent) and debit card (15 percent) were the most popular payment methods online in 2020.

Data in the report shows that purchases made with digital wallets are expected to increase their market share of online payments by 2024 to 47 percent.

The FIS report found that Point of Sale (POS) market in India is projected to increase by 41 percent between now and 2024, according to data in the report.

The most popular in-store payment method is cash at 34 percent, followed by digital wallets (22 percent) and debit card payments (20 percent).

The report projects digital wallets will overtake cash as the most popular in-store payment method by 2024, accounting for 33 percent of payments.
 

E-commerce is a game changer in retail. While the industry was already on an upward growth trajectory, the growth enhanced due to unprecedented consumer demand during the pandemic.

According to Statista, online shopping is one of the most popular online activities across the world. Further, e-retail sales are expected to grow to $6.54 billion by 2023 from $3.53 trillion in 2019.

With technological advancements, online shopping has become increasingly consumer-centric. The brands are consistently making changes to their marketing programmes to make them even more targeted, personalised, digital and precise. 

From leveraging new opportunities in niches previously untapped by entrepreneurs to increased overall sales, e-commerce in coming years would continue to grow, become better and more consumer centric. 

Let's explore key e-commerce trends that are set to define the marketplace in 2021 and beyond.

Increasing Adoption of Omnichannel Approach

Consumer buying preferences are evolving rapidly and today's consumer wants something beyond consumer satisfaction - not just a perfect product that suits his needs, but also a seamless buying experience. This has led to e-retailers adopting a broader approach which includes convenience, wider product availability and experience. Further, brands are focusing on omnichannel presence to ensure seamless as well as personally compelling shopping experience for each individual at every touchpoint through data-driven insights.

Deloitte State of the Consumer Tracker also revealed that 73 percent of Indian respondents are willing to spend more money on convenience. As convenience and experience become the key growth drivers of e-commerce, brands are ramping up efforts and moving to customer-centric business models rather than sticking to channel-centric ones. This in turn is enhancing customer satisfaction, acquisition and retention.

AI and AR to Enhance Shopping Experience

According to a report by Markets and Markets, the augmented reality in the retail market is expected to grow from $411.3 million in 2017 to $7,951.2 million in 2023. From premium brands to small ones, everyone is exploring ways to enhance the shopping experience and make it more engaging. These advanced technologies are being tapped on for providing personalised recommendations and guidance to customers, virtual try-on features and in-store navigation. Nike’s AR app ‘Nike Fit’ is a great example of how savvy retailers are integrating AR-enabled applications into their businesses. This app allows customers to get recommendations for best-choice shoes according to the feet measurement.

Headless Commerce: An Evolving Trend in Online Sales

Headless commerce provisions the decoupling of the presentation layer or front-end of a website from its functionality or back-end. This facilitates developers to utilise the front-end technology of their choice to deliver a good content experience and plug-in an e-commerce solution on the back-end to manage the functionality. For experience-focused brands like DTC brands, lifestyle products, and brands relying heavily on influencer advertising, experience-led strategy like headless commerce is a blessing in disguise. It not only helps brands create a seamless and personalized buying experience but also lets them create a unique brand identity by customising their checkout, themes, and other functionalities.

Digital Advertising Competition

While e-commerce has expanded due to the pandemic, so has the competition. Brands that can lead innovation for advertising and marketing content will reap higher rewards. Additionally, digital advertising content continues to play a significant role in driving sales for a brand and companies will continue to make progressively larger investments in this category. In 2021, e-commerce will witness an increased ‘arms race’ for digital content.

Summing Up!

In 2021, e-commerce brands will up their game in how they interact with customers. Owing to evolving market conditions, marketers will get more sophisticated i.e. unify their communications with customers across channels and the customer journey. Further, brands will continue leveraging technologies for website and app optimization, customer experience, personalised services, customer relationship management, warehousing management etc.

The world markets are still recovering from the wounds inflicted by COVID-19. Every sector is getting acclimated to the social distancing norm. At the dawn of 2021, the local and retail businesses are attempting to recover from the last year's damages. It is too soon to dismiss the relevance of the brick-and-mortar stores. However, the patterns suggest the customers would prefer to place orders online. 

Some Pre-Covid-19 Stats

Consumers are the most vital link in the global economic chain. According to the estimates released by UNCTAD, the e-commerce sales hit $25.6 trillion globally in 2018; an 8 percent increase compared to the online-based sales in 2017. It is evident from the data that the world is opening up to buy from online vendors.  
 
A healthy spike in global e-commerce sales is a promising outcome for businesses across the world. The off-shore consumers are now looking at the vendors from the developing economies to buy products. The cross-border online shoppers rose to 23 percent in 2018 compared to 17 percent in 2016 and 2017. 

These are the global numbers collectively. The USA alone has registered $8,640 billion worth of e-commerce sales in 2018, followed by Japan ($3280 billion) and China ($2,304 billion)

The Emerging Online Shopping Trends in Developing Countries

The unusual shopping patterns are emerging, considering that the societal trends related to how we work, how we learn, and how we use technology is rapidly changing. 

According to the Unicommerce report, there is a 65 percent growth in brands establishing their website. The order volume has increased to 17 percent on the e-commerce platforms in India. 

A few years ago, food and personal care were the least preferred purchases online. However, the trend has changed over the years. Most online shoppers place orders to get their food and make-up merchandise delivered to their homes after buying the goods from the online portals. 

According to a survey conducted by UNCTAD, in countries like Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Russia, Korea, South Africa, Turkey, etc., the monthly average online spending on food and beverages was down by 11 percent during the lockdown. It was the least affected business during the pandemic and lockdown. 

55 percent of Brazilian shoppers prefer shopping online. 68 percent of the Chinese shoppers and 58 percent of Turkish shoppers prefer online shopping over a physical store. 

In Asia alone, 1.7 billion shoppers are shopping online. It could reach 60 percent of its population by 2022, according to Solidiance insights. 
 
The internet penetration is increasing worldwide, likewise the demand for the retail stores to get their products on the e-commerce platforms is also increasing. Some of the key trends in consumer experience and the business practices that could influence the E-commerce business are:
 
Implementation of the Habit Loop - People are easily distracted today. The average attention span has dropped to 8 seconds. It has become a challenge to scout the viewer through the customer path. Implementing a habit loop helps businesses get the buyer's attention. Nir Eyal's HOOKED offers a detailed insight into creating a habit loop for the products. A research by the Duke University in 2006, suggests that more than 40 percent of everyday actions are habitual. 
 
Artificial Intelligence - Artificial Intelligence offers valuable insights into shopper's behavior, buying triggers, search patterns, distractions, etc. Artificial Intelligence is not just to understand the customers but also to develop marketing messages, programmatic advertising for remarketing, and customer support. Often, online shoppers abandon the e-commerce platform because the products offered are irrelevant. With AI, online stores can offer contextualized results to the buyers and improve their shopping experience. The AI-powered chatbots provide a personalized experience to the buyers. It addresses the customer's issues and makes necessary escalations by analyzing the customer's emotions. 

Omnichannel Presence - The Business Insider's research report in 2016 indicated that the platforms that engage with the buyers across ten or more channels have 47 percent more purchases than those who are limited to four or fewer channels - distributing the branding eggs in more than one basket. The omnipresence of the business offers valuable data to the businesses that help them deploy a marketing strategy that communicates best with their ideal customers.
 
A Dynamic Supply Chain - The marketing uncertainties are forcing the organizations to do more with less. Couple this with the customer's changing preferences, the expectations mismatch is a likely occurrence. The focus has shifted from value addition to the business to deliver value to the customers. Align the business and customer strategies with the supply chain. Fulfill customer requirements by synchronizing customer requirements. Hyper segment the customer portfolios to ideate, source, produce and deliver in a heterogeneous model. The business and customer strategies also offer insights into the supply chain risks. Re-asses the supply chain risks and define the supplier relationships to the market demand. Cost should not be the only criterion to select the supplier - onboard the supplier, emphasizing transparency and sustainability and risk analysis.  

The rapid change of pace in the post-pandemic environment demands e-commerce and retail suppliers to reassess their strategies. The businesses have a lot of ground to cover and time is of the essence. Establishing a customized system backed with the insights will help the companies enhance their customer experience with the trends mentioned above. The E-commerce platforms should have a cross-functional team to lead the strategies into execution and develop the path forward, assessing the risks. It is difficult to determine the next normal but not impossible.
 

Though the US social commerce market is growing at a rapid pace, China is not likely to lose its position of dominance in the near future.

According to the research data analyzed and published by Finaria, the total social commerce sales in China was worth $242.41 billion in 2020, accounting for 11.7 percent of online sales. It will grow to $363.26 billion in 2021 and account for a 13.1 percent share of the e-commerce market.

The US will take the lead in retail sales in 2021, with $5.506 trillion against China’s $5.13 trillion. But China’s e-commerce sales will outperform the US by a $2 trillion margin.

52 percent of China’s Retail Sales Will Happen Online in 2021

The total number of social buyers in China was estimated to be 357.2 million in 2020. It is forecast to increase to 392.2 million in 2021, 420.0 million in 2022 and 446.8 million in 2023. 

The commerce market’s performance is partly attributable to China’s smartphone-driven culture. Most social buyers use mobile devices to shop and most digital storefronts start out on mobile layouts. 

WeChat’s Mini Programs is among the most popular platforms for social commerce. In 2020, the platform facilitated transactions worth 1.6 trillion yuan ($250 billion). That was double its 2019 transaction value. WeChat hosts around 2.3 million Mini Programs, compared to Apple App Store’s 1.96 million and Google Play Store’s 2.87 million.

Based on a study by WeForum, China accounted for over 50 percent of global online retail sales in 2020. The share of online sales in the country’s retail sales went from 20 percent in 2016 to 44.8 percent in 2020. Comparatively, the UK had a 27.7 percent share while the US had 14.7 percent. 

Lastly, according to eMarketer, 52.1 percent of China’s retail sales in 2021 will take place online. It will be the first time that a country records more sales online than offline. South Korea will follow with a 28.9 percent share while the UK will be third with 28.3 percent. The US will have a 15 percent share.
 

India is a country where beauty is steeped in the very roots of our being. The inventors of Ayurveda, the lovers of DIY and to now the era of experiential consumers who are constantly looking for something new and innovative to catch their eye. It’s no surprise that estimations suggest India to expect an annual growth rate of 25 percent in the cosmetic industry, going up to a projected size of US$ 20 million. 

While the pandemic did impact people, brands and spending, the beauty industry was fast to read and analyze consumer behavior - they made an interesting pivot and re-strategized both product innovations and marketing strategies. To top it off, if the digital revolution wasn’t already on its ultimate high, this year took it to a leap that was unimaginable. So, if there was a time for you to consider entering the beauty industry as a startup, it is now. 

E-commerce Continues to Boom

A growing demand for convenience and product availability made it imperative for businesses to have an online presence. Today’s consumer is always online, they no longer depend on local beauty stores for research, but in fact look at social media, online marketplaces and websites.There is a surge in e-commerce sales which will continue to accelerate in the post-pandemic world.

Studies show that 19 percent of the people bought beauty and personal care products online for the first time during the COVID-19 crisis. This beauty digitalization through apps is a great opportunity for beauty entrepreneurs to bank upon. Consumers prefer apps for a convenient purchase, virtual try-ons and consumer reviews have become an alternative to the in-store experience. What’s more, technology has given a headway to personalization and thorough research, giving consumers an experience like never before. 

Conscious Consumerism

Rising awareness of beauty products, increasing attention on personal grooming, changing consumption patterns and constant dialogue towards sustainability has given rise to today’s conscious consumer. They are becoming more concerned to avoid nasty chemicals and companies whose methods are harmful to the environment. With the growth of organic products, synthetic compounds like propylparaben and butylparaben are not considered to be safe to be used. Just 35 percent of beauty products today contain parabens, down by nearly 7 points over the last two years. This shift in consumer behaviour has urged startups to market themselves accordingly. The outbreak of Covid-19 has also resulted in changing consumer preferences and are proactively seeking for clean labelled and functional skin care products, which in turn is expected to accelerate the growth of brands that offer them.

Skincare: The Top Priority 

Beyond the usual requirement of everyday makeup products, there is an increasing demand for skincare products. Demand for products like sunscreens, body lotions, face serums, and creams is expected to have a positive impact on the beauty market providing the perfect opportunity for new businesses to grow. Skincare sales increased from 81 percent to 84 percent during the lockdown worldwide.  

With growing awareness and accessibility, consumers are opting for products that are natural and organic and most of all, suit the Indian skin types. Beauty startups can take these needs into consideration, which largely remain unfulfilled by international brands. Home-grown brands that promise to pamper the Indian skin with natural and organic products have gained immense popularity and with the right marketing and scaling strategy, can be seen as a business opportunity for beauty entrepreneurs.

Challenges and Future Prospects in the Startup Beauty Space

To reap the rewards of having something of your own, there’s no doubt that you will meet challenges on the way. Along with creating products that attract your audience, there are aspects of trust and transparency that are paramount. Many shoppers who turned digital in the pandemic still fear the risk of buying cheap, counterfeit products. Thus, the one of the most important things for any brand to do is to win the faith of their audience by connecting with them through multiple touchpoints and constantly communicating with them. 

Startups will have to step away from the conventional norms of launching a beauty brand and understand the evolving nature of the industry. In order to strive in the beauty industry today:

●    Build a Niche Brand - Develop products or services that are unique, effective, and reliable. This will help you stand out from your competitors and attract attention to your brand.

●    Mobilize the Power of Digital Communication to Engage their Audience - Branded content on digital platforms can create trust and provide a connection with the audience. Instagram and Facebook have launched features that enable users to make purchases from the platform directly, without having to leave the page. Build a marketing strategy using these features for a boost in sales.

●    Invest in Technology and Research - The world of beauty is constantly changing and requires innovation and research to keep up with the emerging trends. Keeping up with the latest innovations and constantly offering the market with something new and experimental will attract consumer’s attention. For example, AR/ VR enables users to try on various products through images and live videos, before making a purchase. Leading brands are using this technology to give their consumers a personalized experience. An in-depth research about the market will help you understand what your competition and the industry are working towards to stay relevant.

●    Consider Indian Skin Types and Tones while Developing the Product - Brands are turning hyper-local to provide personalized beauty solutions. A startup in the Indian beauty industry will have to ensure that its product range and services are in the line with the needs of consumers. A localized approach to beauty has proved to be successful.

●    Identify and Approach New Target Audiences - Expand your customer base by identifying and attracting new target audiences. Beauty is no longer confined by the limitations of gender. There is a growing market for men’s beauty products, moving beyond basic grooming and styling products. Investing in men’s beauty now can give you a headstart in the industry. Adopting a new and innovative approach to men’s beauty will be imperative for success.

Covid-19 had a significant impact on the beauty market and it is safe to say that the beauty industry has bounced back. The startup beauty market in India deserves praise for its ability to successfully launch innovative products at high frequency and for being able to identify and leverage nascent growth opportunities. Upcoming brands will have to put efforts in order to understand the needs of the Indian consumer in-depth and put them to use.

In conclusion, an innovative way to approach the consumers along with a great marketing strategy will ensure success to startups in the beauty world. India is set to become one of the top five global beauty markets by 2025, don’t stop yourself from becoming a part of the wave- jump in and join the hustle.
 

COVID-19 lockdown transformed consumer buying pattern in India, with the majority of consumers shifting to online platforms, even for their essentials and daily needs. Especially for e-commerce/ e-tailer players, the ecosystem has seen a paradigm shift. 

In India, the e-commerce industry is expected to grow from US$ 38.5 billion in 2017 to US$ 200 billion by 2026. India e-commerce industry is expected to become the second-largest in the world by 2034. On the other hand, the e-retail industry in India is primed to reach nearly 300 to 350 million shoppers in the next five years – propelling online Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) to $100 to 120 billion by 2026. The $850 billion Indian retail market is the fourth largest market in the world. 

This magnanimous growth in the industry is fueled by the increasing base of first-time internet and smartphone users, an outcome of ‘Digital India’ campaign. As of August 2020, India had 760 million internet connections.

Along with this growing online community, another aspect that has been contributing to the growth of these sectors is the unorganized nature of the household essentials market. It has opened new avenues for e-retail/ e-tail/ e-commerce companies who not only understand the consumer psyche well but are able to curate quality products and services which are synced with the requirements of today’s new-age consumers and bring them into the fold of the organized sector. As companies continue to innovate and onboard millions of shoppers, it is interesting to explore the major trends that will see prominence in this sector in 2021:

•    The Reality of Online Shopping will be Enhanced by Augmented Reality: When it comes to online shopping augmented reality (AR) will become a major game-changer as it will significantly close the gap of ambiguity. It will help the customers visualize and decide the product that they want to buy. Before pressing the ‘Buy Now’ button they will be able to decide whether the furniture that they are buying would look good in their home or not. This will bring comparison for the shoppers to a whole new level and therefore help them to overcome the hurdle of not being able to see the product firsthand.

•    There will be a Significant Number of People Using Voice Search: These days right from checking the weather to setting an alarm to buying products online people rely on voice assistants like Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Therefore, one thing that will that we’ll all see in the future is that people will order groceries with a simple voice command as it will save a lot of time on browsing especially if it’s a repeated order because one will not have to enter the brand, the address, the payment and shipping information again and again. Therefore, businesses that are looking to get into the ground floor for them there is a lot of untapped potentials.

•    Chatbots will Improve the Shopping Experience: Chatbots in the coming time will serve the role of the brick-and-mortar, a greeter as well as a salesperson. They will not only be a huge help to the company as they will be able to communicate with hundreds of customers but also give them the feeling of personal attention and provide them with thoughtful recommendations based on their responses. According to a study, people actually prefer to converse with bots and other digital self-serving tools as they have a faster response time. They will drastically change the way people shop online and become one of the most important marketing tools.

•    Subscription Feature to Help Customers Coming Back: For retailers, subscription plan have a number of advantages as they make it easier to predict fulfilment needs and they allow the customer to maintain and retain customers for a greater long-term value. Therefore, more and more companies will offer subscription service or monthly payment option for their purchases in the upcoming years to come.

•    Sustainability will Become one of the Main Focus in the Coming Years: One topic that is getting a lot of traction and hopefully is not a passing trend, is that now more and more people are becoming aware of their role that their purchasing decisions have on the earth’s limited resources. Therefore, now the brands have to find ways to weave into their product their marketing and fulfilment strategies. Brands that work on improving their operations by working on initiatives like having biodegradable packaging, going paperless, using recyclable supplies and working on behalf of the environment will undoubtedly have a robust impact on the buying decisions of the consumers.

Overall, apart from the above, in 2021, the industry also expects increase in export revenues and increase in tax collection by exchequer. Further, these sectors have not only grown by themselves, but also is having a cascading effect on allied industries, especially MSMEs. Partnering with MSME enterprises has helped e-tailers to expand their procurement and sourcing capacity, while also contributing to the business growth of MSMEs.

We are on a strong growth trajectory, however there are still few challenges that the e-retailers in India face. Some of the key aspects which requires attention are: 

•    Some customers return much of the products that they buy online as there are a lot of first-time buyers and they are not sure about what to expect from the e-commerce websites, therefore, they fall prey to hard sell and when they finally receive the product, they regret their decision and end up returning the good. This in turn increases the cost as returns are extremely expensive for the e-commerce companies.

•    Another challenge that companies face is that often the postal address is not correct and therefore it becomes a task for the company to deliver the product to the customer, affecting the delivery capacity of the delivery partner. 

•    Lastly, one of the major issues that the industry faces is the issue is maintaining a robust supply chain

To conclude, I would say that even though the per capita purchasing power is low in India, but still, it is one of the most attractive emerging market and this is one industry that is capable of doing a lot and as it is said “we don’t grow when things are easy, we grow when we face challenges.”
 

Commerce and Information have a long history together. A chokehold of Information and Logistics in supply chains have sparked great changes in society including triggering the sea-faring ways of the European countries which is singularly responsible for the current Globalized world.

History of commerce

Information (where, what, who, when, how much) and Logistics (how) are interwoven. Commerce in the pre-computer age was driven by a network of human relationships oiling the chain from producer to consumer. The advent of the computer completely changed the dynamics between the Producers, Traders, and Retailers. 

One battle that was fought in the 1970s and ’80s in the USA and won by the retailers is instructive to the future of commerce in the Digital Age. Retailers started insisting that all products have a standardized barcode. Over just a few years, the balance of power shifted from the large manufacturers to the retailers to the point that by the 1990s, even medium-sized retailers could reject products with faulty barcodes. Before that, the salesman of the large brand told you exactly how much of what product to buy and store on your shelves if you were a retailer and the retailer had no option but to comply.

Empowering Local Trade 

Modern Trade that emerged from this battle became the largest corporations in the USA in the ’80s since they had the best access to consumer preference information and had found a way to use it for their competitive advantage. Then came the Internet and eCommerce who took the Information advantage to an altogether new level further accelerated by advances in IoT, Deep Learning, and Cloud Computing in the recent past.

What does this history have to do with Local Trade-in small towns like Udupi and many other places with populations of 1L or more across India? That’s because the answer to how Local Trade can compete with Modern Trade and eCommerce lies in the effective capture and use of Information.

To do this, Local Trade needs to act as one united force and bring themselves together on a Digital Commons powered by Digital Public Infrastructure like IndiaStack. This is what LCommerce is all about. Doing this also enables a new vector of growth for the Local Economy. That is the creation of high-quality jobs enabled by Data analytics, AR/VR, AI, and Blockchain in the local area rather than these jobs being shipped away to cities like Bangalore. This has a trickle-down effect into jolting other parts of the local economy into innovation too.

What is LCommerce and Why Should India Adopt this Model?

Once digital parity is achieved through LCommerce, effective use of local data and the catalysing of synergies through network-based peer to peer organizing can result in LCommerce (Definition of LCommerce: Decentralized eCommerce Platforms optimized for Local Sustainable Living) becoming a Global best practice for the world transitioning into resilient circular local economies from the current linear global supply chain model.

LCommerce is essentially interconnected Open Commerce Marketplaces that are locally run for the benefit of local communities. An online presence for sellers and producers of all kinds and optimized for logistics in the local area. This will lead to true portability. Just like my mother can call my Airtel number from her Jio connection, a buyer on Amazon should be able to reach a product/merchant on LCommerce. The eCommerce race then goes from “Winner takes all” to “Everyone wins”. LCommerce is then a locally rendered Digital service that aims to facilitate better leverage of the local information. LCommerce is Digital and behaves like eCommerce but is not eCommerce in a fundamental way. LCommerce doesn’t alter data ownership whereas eCommerce owns all the information that it touches.             

LCommerce is an implementation of Decentralization that not just makes business sense in the post-pandemic world, but also provides a pathway to a more equitable, distributive, circular, high-velocity economic system.

The post-pandemic world has woken us up to the inherent frailties in our Global supply chain and the need for local action. Inventing a new Producer win, Trader win, Consumer win model for the rapidly digitizing world and creating sustainable development opportunities in the over 500+ locations with India with populations greater than 1L people is a very achievable goal with LCommerce.