India’s e-commerce has grown tremendously since 2019 at an annual growth rate of 27%, it’s expected that the industry will be worth $ 111.40 in year 2025. Apparently, the marketing and promotion of household and personal products has been effectively driving the upward trend as growth is most notable in the grocery, apparel and wellness sectors. Exposure of product advertisements increased, in line with the incremental expansion of Internet penetration achieved by the government’s “Digital India” initiative. Currently, India is ranked as the 8th largest market for e-commerce.
India’s domestic online grocery market for one is projected to hit a value of $18.2 billion in 2024, posting a growth rate of 57% starting from the sector’s 2019 value of $1.9 billion. The personal care, beauty and wellness sector is likewise contributing to the continuous growth, as the volume of orders for this sector increased by 36% during the last quarter of 2020; noted as the largest increment for the year.
Notable Government Initiatives that Helped India’s e-Commerce to Achieve Phenomenal Growth
It helped that in 2014, the government of India launched “Digital India,” along with other programs like Innovation Fund, Skill India, Make in India and Start-up India. The timely and effective rollout of initiatives launched by the “Digital India” program became instrumental in helping India’s e-commerce market not only to thrive but achieve phenomenal success as well.
While Flipkart, Paytm Mall, and Amazon India are currently the leading e-commerce sites, the government is poised to launch an online selling platform called the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Designed to level the playing field for all types of sellers, the ONDC platform will enable India’s consumers to browse for products and services via a single portal without the need to change platforms.
Strengthening India’s e-Commerce Sector with GeM and More
In 2016, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry launched an online public procurement platform called Government e-Marketplace (GeM). Created to ensure transparency in government procurement of goods and services, the Ministry of Finance made it mandatory for government units throughout the country to make purchases only from GeM.
Other initiatives launched to boost digitalization in support of e-commerce included the Start-up India Portal, Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG), and Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM).
In 2020, the Minister of Commerce and Industry encouraged start-up entrepreneurs to register with GeM so they can offer their goods and services to various government organizations, including the wholly or partly government-owned Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
As of August 2021, the GeM portal has already recorded serving 7.23 million online orders valued at Rs127,231 crore ($ 17.12 billion) placed by 53,575 buyers with as many as 2.40 million registered providers of goods and services.
Empowering India’s Consumers to make Purchases Online
Yet such initiatives are only as good as the capability of India’s consumers to make purchases whether offline or online. India’s expansion of Internet penetration also made owning a smartphone a lucrative investment. While having one enabled them to shop online, their devices also enabled them to access numerous income-earning opportunities that work in conjunction with e-commerce operations.
A good example is JAA Lifestyle, an e-commerce marketing arm that pays consumers to view product advertisements. This is a marketing technique to ensure that the online offers of sellers stay afloat and visible in India’s internet space.
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Here, users of the JAA Lifestyle app can also earn additionally by direct referral of members to create a network of ad viewers. However, it’s important to recruit those who have valid identification documents as the site strictly complies with the KYC ID verification process for which a one-time fee is collected.