eCommerce : The evolving story .... part 2

In the last post, I spoke about how the eCommerce organisations are now trying to focus on the whole end to end band width of consumer experience...
Through this post, my intention is to briefly focus on how the eCommerce companies are going ahead in executing this focus shift and in which areas, by citing various examples.
Also, in some instances, I will like to showcase how traditional companies are fighting this onslaught.

Today is the world of instant gratification - " I want it now and I want it here "
This is what is driving the think tank behind the Delivery / Fulfillment & Last mile guys.

Big Basket has started recently to tie up with local stores which brings them one step closer to the Customer - it acts as collection centers (Aas Paas) for specific local pin codes thus reducing the turn-around time for orders in that area and helps BigBasket to minimize their inventory ....

Flipkart has tied up with Mumbai Dabbawalas - since this will give them an increased reach & address finding efficiency in the last mile.

Companies like iPay is trying to increase eCommerce penetration to tier 3 cities and villages through their unique model, which involves the local kirana shop...

"Ipay, via its brand Dukan Line, taps consumers who are unaware of e-retail or uncomfortable buying online due to lack of trust, or for want of assistance," says Lakamsani. Basically, the customers of the kirana store, using Dukan Line business boxes, identify the item they want to purchase, and pay cash to the store owner. Ipay places the order on their behalf to the distributor/manufacturer, who delivers it to the customer." - Economic Times
http://ipay.in/

Big Bazaar Online Franchisee - Is trying to make the corner Kirana shop a one stop buying shop for all your needs...it is basically making the kirana shop which has limited category with limited inventory, into a supermarket with unlimited category and unlimited inventory!

Multichannel - Big Bazaar plans to launch it's etailing App soon which will help consumers compare product prices across the web and get it from BigBazaar at a lesser price!
"Who is afraid of ecommerce?" Biyani asked. "Even if you open 10 sites in 10 years, it will be 10% (of the total organised retail market). Secondly, worldwide, multichannel is the way. Traditional retailers doing multichannel is a bigger thing than pure online in any which way."  - Economic Times

eCommerce : The evolving story.....part 1

I was introduced to eCommerce in 2006 in Melbourne when I bought a Handycam from eBay...from then onwards it has slowly become a buying mode for household / personal needs - be it Groceries, baby toys and diapers, Apparels & shoes, Fridge, washing machine, hard drives, furnitures and books offcourse! - the total value of my eCommerce purchase since 2010 is around 3.5 lacs INR - if not more!

We all have seen the Indian eCommerce industry grow leaps and bound in the last 2-3 years...presently Flipkart is valued around USD 12 Billion dollars, Snap deal around 6 Billion dollars and so on....

I personally had a chance to get involved in eCommerce while working for a retail conglomerate and I was awed at the complexities it had and at the same point of time the endless possibilities that we could provide to the customer through this channel...

Today eCommerce is no more a game where you build amazing websites - it has moved out to smartphones, the strategic focus now pans across the bandwidth i.e. providing amazing customer buying experience to amazing fulfillment / delivery experience - the whole idea has not only evolved technologically but also emotionally...

     Picture Courtesy: All the eCommerce websites that have been mentioned.

Today, consumers look beyond convenience & discounts, for the following features :

•  More options across the price bands across different catalogues
•  Same day delivery - if not within next 4 hours delivery !
•  High quality experience guarantee - not only for the product but the whole experience i.e. packaging, delivery, home trials, hassle free & no question asked returns, customer support, ease of payments
• Value add services like:
• priority consumers getting the first option to shop for New season launch, 
• all monthly updates on new products, or 
• priority members only offer!

Today customer needs have changed, they now want to step up and get more emotionally connected with the ecommerce experience....the experience revolution that shopping malls gave the consumers in the start of this century is happening a decade later...but this time it's just from the flick of their fingers!

So, what's in store for the future of eCommerce in India?

Though most of the eCommerce organisations are bleeding at the moment and the focus is more on customer acquisition; but moving forward, say in next 5-6 years, there will be only 3 or 4 major players left in the whole eCommerce field in India. Major consolidations across catalogues and across different offerings will happen and the end winners will be those who stay focused on the customer need and they only will become profitable over a period of time...