Ecommerce in India
The past 2 years have seen a rise in the number of companies' embracing e-commerce technologies and the Internet in India. Most e-commerce sites have been targeted towards the NRI's with Gift delivery services, books, Audio and videocassettes e.t.c.. Major Indian portal sites have also shifted towards e-commerce instead of depending on advertising revenue. The web communities built around these portal sites with content have been effectively targeted to sell everything from event and moues tickets the grocery and computers. The major in this services being Rediff on the net (Welcome to rediff.com) and India plaza with started a shopping section after
their highly successful content site generated WEB visitors . Inspite of RBI regulation, low Internet usage e-commerce sites have popped up everywhere hawking things like groceries, bakery items, gifts, books, audio & videocassettes, computer e.t.c. None the major players have been deterred by the low PC penetration and credit card usage in India and have tried to close the success worldwide of online commerce. BPB publication went online selling its complete range of computer books about 2 years ago, it might not have the success of either Amazon.com of Barnes and noble. but they definitely have promised the cause of e-commerce in India with atleast 1 to 5 web sites like Indiabookshop coming online.
This is not to say that the e-commerce scenario has been bad in India as highly successful e-business like baba bazaar and India mart have proved. Indian Banks too have been very successful in adapting EC and EDI Technologies to provide customers with real time account status, transfer of funds between current and checking accounts, stop payment facilities. ICICI Bank, Global TRUST BANK AND UTI-Bank also have put their electronic banking over the internet facilities in place for the up coming e-commerce market speed post also plain to clone the federal express story with online package status at any moment in time . The future does look very bright for e-commerce in India with even the stock exchanges coming online providing a online stock portfolio and status with a fifteen minute delay in prices. The day cannot be far when with RBI regulations we will able to see stock transfer and sale over the Net with specialized services like schwab and e*trade.
Though with security and encryption being proven Technologies for transfer of funds over the Internet, the Indian Government still has problems with 'Digital signatures' and verification processes over the Internet. This combined with RBI norms and regulations has proved to a major handle for e-commerce even though VSNL India's monopolistic ISP does want to jump on to the electronic transaction bandwagon with the advent of private ISP's and India new and positive attitude towards IT and the prime ministers new 'IT policy " the future is very positive in India for doing commerce with a-e.
The Future of E-Commerce
What does the future hold for e-commerce? Many would say it is difficult to predict. The forces that determine the web's winners and losers are just taking shape and technological advances could add even more uncertainty. On the downside, some experts predict that it will be increasingly difficult for smaller companies to establish their presence. Public companies and traditional brand name retailers have deep pockets and a name recognition that will make it difficult for smaller sites and mom-and-pop shops to attract customers, thereby forcing them to compete with the big boys. On the Net, it's one big neighborhood. On the upside, nearly all experts believe that overall e-commerce will increase exponentially in coming years. Business to business transactions will represent the largest revenue. Online retailing will also enjoy a drastic growth. Areas expected to go include financial services, travel, entertainment and groceries. And for those considering opening a virtual storefront, forthcoming technology and standards agreements will make it easier to create a site, to protect it against payment fraud, and to share information with suppliers and business partners.
