Webinar: Unlocking India’s E-Commerce Opportunities
On 30 March, the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) hosted its first e-commerce webinar, ‘Unlocking India’s E-Commerce Opportunities.’
UKIBC Associate Director Daxa Bharadwa moderated the session alongside UKIBC’s e-commerce expert and Associate Director Subhayu Ray. The two were joined by an exceptional panel of speakers – Sidram Kaudaki, Senior Business Development Manager, International Brand Partnership, Amazon India; Imtiaz Ibrahim, CEO and Co-Founder, Scale Global; Kiran Kumar Kolisetty, Co-Founder and CTO, Scale Global; and Howard Parker, Sales Director at E-Exporting Limited.
Sidram first addressed consumer trends in the Indian market, many of which came as no surprise e.g., cooking at home, work from home essentials and fitness essentials. The e-commerce industry has emerged as the backbone of the retail industry, and small and big players have realised the human potential of e-commerce.
India is one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in the world. Sidram shared the projected growth of the e-commerce market in India by 2027, which predicts a value of USD 200 billion. Sidram went on to share a few details of Amazon India and building a digital ecosystem on Amazon.in.
Imtiaz began by reiterating Sidram’s observation of the exponential increase in the e-commerce industry over the next few years, noting that apparel and footwear will lead the market at a predicted USD 18.7 billion by 2025. Imtiaz shared the top five market trends in India, with the top trend ‘Bharat going online,’ meaning searches in non-metros are growing faster than the metros across categories through smartphones.
The average age of the e-commerce consumer still falls into the millennial generation at 27.9 years old. Imtiaz shared a variety of consumer insights including the top 10 cities with the highest e-commerce demand and the four Ps of motivation for watching online videos – pleasure, (em)power, purpose, and people.
Imtiaz discussed the elements that influence Indian consumers when deciding to buy essential goods, hard goods, and soft goods online. The key pillars of success for brands as noted by Imtiaz are:
- a clear understanding of the marketplace;
- access to the market place;
- digital marketing; and
- logistics and fulfilment
Subhayu wrapped up the presentation portion of the session by sharing UKIBC’s India e-commerce solution. UKIBC is committed to supporting organisations’ endeavours across all channels of distribution, both bricks and mortar, and online.
UKIBC has developed a robust and transparent India e-commerce solution for UK brands working with our partners who have a vast knowledge and experience within the sector. Subhayu shared UKIBC’s role in this project, which is one of facilitation and overall project management. This is a transparent and diagnostic 12-step process, allowing organisations to better focus on their strategies.
Many thanks to our exceptional speakers for providing their time and resources for this webinar. If you have further questions or are interested in discussing your e-commerce opportunities with UKIBC, please email Subhayu Ray at Subhayu.ray@ukibc.com.
If you were unable to join our session on the day, or would like to go through the webcast again, we invite you to watch the webinar below for the discussion in full.
RESOURCES
- https://sellercentral.amazon.in (Amazon India seller central)
- https://sell.amazon.in/fees-and-pricing.html (Pricing)
- https://brandservices.amazon.in (Brand registry)
- https://advertising.amazon.in (Amazon advertising)
