In
India, what do people buy online? While electronics and apparel are
some of the largest selling items, products such as adult diapers and
blood glucose meters are seeing a rapid rise in demand on e-tailing
sites along with tug-of-war ropes or even robotic ping-pong tables and
selfie kits.
Kunal Bahl, co-founder and CEO of Snapdeal, was surprised when he reviewed the range of products being bought from tier II and III towns from his online marketplace. "Online retail has revolutionized the way Indians shop. Some of the categories witnessing high traction from these places are very interesting," he said.
Arvind Singhal, founder of retail consultancy Technopak, said, "Penetration of FMCG products and consumer durables are very high across India. But in smaller towns and cities, people don't have access to many categories that are easily available in metros. For instance, if you move just 300Km away from Delhi to Nainital, availability of items such as solar lanterns drops sharply. So the only option for people there is to shop online because, for many categories, the reach of online players is greater than that of their brick and mortar counterparts."
Snapdeal has a separate team that travels into far-flung places like the interior of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir to partner with local courier companies.
Data from eBay shows people in Lakshadweep buy a large number of bar accessories online from eBay, while Nagaland sees a high demand for camping gear. Bike accessories are a big hit in Daman & Diu, while Chandigarh sees big purchases of networking and wireless devices, and Goa fuels the demand for hats.
"We have seen faster e-commerce growth in non-metros due to the advent of low priced smartphones and internet access," said Vidmay Naini, director (business operations), eBay India. "Consumers in non-metros are not only buying mainstream products but also unique items such as DJ turn tables, body-piercing jewellery, dashcams, temporary hair colour styling gel."
People in smaller towns are going online not just for 'offbeat' goods, Singhal said. "Items such as branded apparel are also hard to find in those areas. So, shopping online is the only option for people there," he said.
For Flipkart, Coimbatore and Tirupur have become apparel hubs and have seen 200% growth in demand last year, while Kundli, Pudducherry and Panipat have emerged as major hubs for categories such as home, consumer electronics and apparels. "Demand for leather and sports goods is growing among smaller city customers with Ludhiana and Jalandhar catering to 65% of these orders," said a Flipkart spokesperson.
Kunal Bahl, co-founder and CEO of Snapdeal, was surprised when he reviewed the range of products being bought from tier II and III towns from his online marketplace. "Online retail has revolutionized the way Indians shop. Some of the categories witnessing high traction from these places are very interesting," he said.
Arvind Singhal, founder of retail consultancy Technopak, said, "Penetration of FMCG products and consumer durables are very high across India. But in smaller towns and cities, people don't have access to many categories that are easily available in metros. For instance, if you move just 300Km away from Delhi to Nainital, availability of items such as solar lanterns drops sharply. So the only option for people there is to shop online because, for many categories, the reach of online players is greater than that of their brick and mortar counterparts."
Snapdeal has a separate team that travels into far-flung places like the interior of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir to partner with local courier companies.
Data from eBay shows people in Lakshadweep buy a large number of bar accessories online from eBay, while Nagaland sees a high demand for camping gear. Bike accessories are a big hit in Daman & Diu, while Chandigarh sees big purchases of networking and wireless devices, and Goa fuels the demand for hats.
"We have seen faster e-commerce growth in non-metros due to the advent of low priced smartphones and internet access," said Vidmay Naini, director (business operations), eBay India. "Consumers in non-metros are not only buying mainstream products but also unique items such as DJ turn tables, body-piercing jewellery, dashcams, temporary hair colour styling gel."
People in smaller towns are going online not just for 'offbeat' goods, Singhal said. "Items such as branded apparel are also hard to find in those areas. So, shopping online is the only option for people there," he said.
For Flipkart, Coimbatore and Tirupur have become apparel hubs and have seen 200% growth in demand last year, while Kundli, Pudducherry and Panipat have emerged as major hubs for categories such as home, consumer electronics and apparels. "Demand for leather and sports goods is growing among smaller city customers with Ludhiana and Jalandhar catering to 65% of these orders," said a Flipkart spokesperson.
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