India’s e-commerce business grows by 17 pct post COVID-19, 65 pct growth in brands establishing own website

The e-commerce business in India has seen a growth of 17 per cent post COVID-19, a new report reveals. The report titled - ‘E-commerce Trends Report 2020’ by Unicommerce focuses on the growth of e-commerce in India along with detailing out changing consumer behaviour and the industry response to address the newly emerging e-commerce trends. 

It reveals that the problem of limited availability and fear of getting infected created a new shift in consumer behaviour and their buying patterns leading to a new wave of online consumers. Overall e-commerce has not just recovered but witnessed an order-volume growth of 17% as of June 2020. 

The consumer buying patterns and preferences have changed significantly with categories like health and pharma and FMCG & agriculture seeing a surge and exponential growth, with the rise number of first-time online Shoppers. 

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After e-commerce resumed operations post COVID-19, the return rate has seen a dip of ~10-30% depending on the category. The reduced return can be attributed to the new safety norms, increasing demand for essential products, which are generally non-returnable. The report adds that there is an increasing trend of consumers buying directly from brands' websites. Retail brands are now strengthening their online capabilities and opting for different approaches to connect with consumers 

In the last one year, there has been a considerable growth of 65% for brands developing their own website, which led to an increase in self-shipped orders. However, the percentage of self-shipped orders declined from 35% in Feb 2020 to 30% in Jun 2020. The decline in self- shipped orders can be attributed to brands trusting marketplace logistics due to better service levels and lower unpredictability during current uncertain times.