Who’s right? NASSCOM says e-com to cross $38 Bn in FY18 while govt claims $33 Bn

The e-commerce market in India is slated to grow around 17 per cent in gross merchandise value and will be worth $38.5 billion by FY18, according to IT industry body NASSCOM.

However, the report contradicts the ASSOCHAM and Deloitte joint study which outlined that the e-commerce market is expected to cross $50-billion mark by the end of 2018 from $38.5 billion in December last year.

Notably, the research and consulting firms are accustomed to quote different figures pertaining to projections. This is not the first instance of conflicting figures given by ASSOCHAM or NASSCOM. The figures also vary as firms use different parameters, sample size amongst others.

Besides aforementioned projections on the growth of e-commerce, the government had said that e-commerce market will touch $33 billion this fiscal (by next month as the current FY is ending in March).

The likely growth in e-commerce would largely be driven by a spurt in online food, grocery and hotel bookings, adds the report.

About 1,000 startups emerged in the last couple of years. This signifies over 23 per cent growth in the number of startups during 2016-17. Currently, 5,200 startups are operational in the country, notes the report. Importantly, the B2B segment has been witnessing sizeable growth for past two years.

Meanwhile, e-tailing is also showing remarkable progress where millions of online shoppers have been added in the past two-three years.

According to Bangalore-based market research firm Redseer Consulting, the e-tailing industry is poised to add 19 million shoppers in 2018, in which tier-1 cities are expected to add just 4 million online shoppers while the left number will be added by tier-2 cities.  In 2017, the industry added 10 million shoppers in both the cities.

Besides online retail, the ride-hailing industry which currently has 2 million daily rides in the country is expected to grow by 5.2 million by 2020.

Also Read: Online grocery to lead India’s e-retail growth to $28 Bn by 2020: Crisil

The increasing mobile and internet penetration, e-commerce sales, advanced shipping and payment options, exciting discounts, and the push into new international markets will support the growth.

The Redseer report also stressed that an increasing number of Internet users will help in the growth of the e-commerce segment. In 2016, around 60 million people shopped online in India, which constitutes 14 per cent of the overall Internet user base.

The Internet penetration in the country has also seen a steady rise. Recently, a Google-BCG report suggested that digital spending by consumers is expected to grow nearly 2.5 times to $100 billion by 2020.

PS: Figures thrown by research and consulting firms may be confusing and contradictory. Do your own quick research to find out convincing one.

The development was first reported by Moneycontrol.