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If it's not for convenience and speed, online selling would've
remained a distant possibility. In Indian perspective however,
the idea is still to catch on. Looking at it more closely, the
picture that emerges is not one without uncertainty. People who
otherwise feel perfectly at ease using plastic cards at
brick-and-mortar stores, are hesitant buying online.
Though the usual custom is to blame the government for all that
lacks, it'll perhaps not be unwise to suggest that the
government indeed needs to do a lot in order that online
selling/shopping takes off in earnest. Let's examine what clicks
online in India.
Online tickets
As pointed out in an earlier column, online ticketing occupies
the top slot among all online selling. No-frill airlines, like
Air Deccan sells tickets mainly on the net thus cutting out
fringe expenses had it been done through agents. Indian
Railways, a fully-owned government entity, too does sizable
business selling tickets on the net.
What else..
In absence of sufficient data, it's difficult to speculate on
the volume of business that other online selling generates. A
recent ET report (The Economic Times, Kolkata, Dec
28) quotes an IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India)
survey that states nearly half a million (4.40 lakhs) b2c deals
go presently through the net per month, of which 'besides buying
goods' (how much? which items?), all other are basically
services. These include net banking, stock trading, hotel
booking, bill payment, matrimonial search and job search.
Any trend?
Sadly, none. Prevalence of services can be easily explained.
People in the know recognize these are inherently 'net-centric',
benefits can be had real-time, and so do not mind parting with
money online. If at all there's a trend, it is just that nearly
all online shopping is done through reputed concerns, like eBay
India, Sifymall, Rediff, Indiatimes and others. There's little
evidence, if any, of small 'mom-and-pop' stores thriving only on
online business, doing it alone.
What goes elsewhere
Herein lies a sharp contrast with online buying elsewhere,
specially in US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Korea and EU nations.
The market there is more mature, more regulated, and therefore
more responsive to competitive push and pulls. Range of products
available is astonishing.
While biggies like Amazon (diversified, mainly books), eBay
(mainly auctions), Google (selling text ads), Home Depot (home
items) and others occupy good amount of online retail arena,
there's sufficiently large space there to accommodate scores of
medium, small and even startup business. ClickBank, that allows promoting and selling
digital products, has nearly 10000 vendors and over 100,000
affiliates as participants.
Anything that creates value sells. If you write well, you're a
seller. Know typical cooking recipe, sell it. As in case of
ClickBank, a vendor earns selling his digital produce (say an
e-book on Enjoying Holidays in India - Where and How), an
affiliate too earns commission by letting others know
(advertising on his website, or sending emails to his readers).
There's virtually no end to ways and means to YOU CAN EARN ONLINE.
India - what then?
India is eons behind. No point saying internet penetration is
poor, and suchlike. Fact is e-commerce in India is in infancy,
if not stillborn. There's no 'bridge of trust' that can
effectively link buyer and seller. Banks are barely interested
to promote e-commerce. Whatever they offer is simply beyond the
means of most small business. Above all, there isn't as yet any
piece of legislation that can attempt to bring various parties
together.
What does small business (like mine) do? Simple, we target the
mature markets. For example, Indian art paintings that my company sells online
are valued in US dollars. Clearly then the lucre of anything
online lies to the west of Indian shores.
About the author:
Prioriti WebInfo, owned and operated by Partha
Bhattacharya, provides top internet web marketing and webmaster
resources free. Suitable for both start-ups and regulars alike.
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