No slowdown! India’s e-commerce industry back on its feet post COVID-19 setback

There has been absolutely no impact on the Indian e-commerce industry with buyers making almost similar amount of purchase through online mode as they were before the lockdown. As per the latest analysis report by Unicommerce, the e-commerce sector has recovered by over 90% as compared to its pre-lockdown order volume. The report expects the industry to recover completely by the end of this month.

The recovery is driven by the sales of electronic appliances. The sector has not just recovered its pent up volume but also shown great improvement with over 45% growth in the overall order volume compared to pre-lockdown levels.  However, the average cart size has decreased by around 5-10%, as people are ordering more low value goods required to operate from home. Surprisingly, this doesn’t include smartphones. 

“The increasing change in consumer behaviour to prefer online shopping has come as a great surprise and relief for online sellers and marketplaces. This will lead to the rising adoption of omnichannel solutions by companies across sectors and focus on digital transformation to significantly improve customer buying experience with the help of relevant technology solutions,” Kapil Makhija, CEO, Unicommerce said.

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Another ongoing study by Mastercard suggests that shopping in India has also shifted online as 86% of people feel that hygiene concerns are here to stay. It said that e-commerce is on the rise with 49% of Indians planning to make more purchases online. 

This will also see an increase in digital payments with 49 per cent respondents in the country saying that they plan to use less cash in the coming months. A large majority in India (77%) believe the shift to contactless payments is here to stay

“Consumers now want on-demand products and services – whether it’s food delivery, groceries, fitness courses, telemedicine, conferencing, learning or entertainment. This demand and these expectations will continue to drive e-commerce long after COVID-19 subsides,” said Sandeep Malhotra, Executive Vice President, Products & Innovation, Asia Pacific, Mastercard.     

“As communities and economies emerge from the pandemic, the new consumer mindset sends a clear signal to merchants of all shapes and sizes that online shopping and touch-free transactions are essential to building the business and ensuring customer loyalty now and in the future.”

The latest survey underscores the movement to contactless after a Mastercard study in April showed that 79 percent of people worldwide and 91 percent in Asia Pacific were using tap-and-go payments. Citing safety and cleanliness, 74 percent of people globally and 75 percent in Asia Pacific said they would keep using contactless after the pandemic is over.