m-Commerce: an add-on to CDIT market
m-Commerce: an add-on to CDIT market

If we talk about Indian CDIT (Consumer durable IT products), the market has shown significant leaps and bounds over the past decade. This current phase can be well termed as a “Revolution phase” with eCommerce and mCommerce complementing retailers to reach out to more and more customers.                                                                                                       

During the Indian Retail and eRetail Congress and Awards, Retailer Media got a chance to speak with Sanjay Warke, Country Head, Toshiba India Pvt Ltd, to know more about the industry trends and future roadmap of the CDIT market.

How the retail industry has behaved in terms of growth and opportunity in the Indian market?

The retail industry is very huge in India and it has been a mom-and-pop industry since ages. If we talk about large format and regional large format retail, it has gained a lot of importance in the past. Whether it be consumer industry, telecom industry or be it a consumer durable industry, there has always been a discussion about when will the large format retail revolution happen in India. Now it’s happening!

Is this a revolution, an influence from the West? How well will it move forward?

Whatever happens in the West will catch up much faster in emerging economies. As per various statistics, India is ahead of even developed countries in terms of the number of consumers who go online. This is catching up quite well in the Indian market and this trend is definitely going to continue for a while.

If we talk about CDIT industry, how different is the market when compared between metros and tier II/ III cities?

Very clearly, in CDIT space if you take television or laptops, the penetration is much higher in the metros and it is catching up in tier II and III cities quite significantly. While it is higher in metros, there is still a way to go in terms of how much we can still do. Therefore, the marketing strategies will be different, but typically talking about potential, it exists in both.

What are the driving factors in terms of growth in this kind of a business?

Fundamentally, it’s all about how does a brand go beyond the traditional 4Ps i.e. pursuit, purpose, participation, performance. Brands need to look at the whole gamut of a consumer’s life with a focus on how we can serve in major aspects of a consumer’s life.

Where do you see the future of eCommerce business 3-5 years down the line?

I believe that eCommerce is here to stay and fundamentally there needs to be a partnership between the eCommerce, manufacturers and marketers.

Having said that, the potential and importance of bricks-and-mortars is not going to diminish at all. Each one has their own role to play. The equilibrium might shift from one way to the other but it will not hamper the importance.

Your take on the fast emerging mCommerce industry. Do you think it will take over the eCommerce?

mCommerce is going to be an add-on, not a stand alone. The way I believe is that it’s not going to be a mobile-only strategy. mCommerce will complement eCommerce and the bricks-and-mortars to reach out to more consumers.     

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