Challenges and Opportunities in the Indian E-Commerce Industry

Abstract

In today’s age of technology and digitization, e-commerce as an industry has come a long way in leveraging the same and capturing the market in terms of retail sales. It has played a crucial role in completely changing the customer’s outlook and experience of shopping, enabling them to do so within a few minutes in the comforts of their homes, with just a click of the mobile phone or laptop. The ever-increasing internet and smartphone penetration has helped bridge the gap between customers and e-commerce companies effectively. Online shopping is being preferred these days due to the availability of quality products at reasonable prices and also the convenience of having them delivered at the doorstep. However, any new technological development comes with its own share of pros and cons. This research paper deals with identifying these roadblocks and also points out the major opportunities which it can possibly utilize to further expand their growth and market share in the vast retail sector. One of the major challenges is the lack of having a significant reach in the rural areas and the population there not having the required technical know-how to exploit the services offered by companies. Another pertinent challenge is to address a certain decrease in the use of plastic cards for purchases due to the fear of card hacking and related theft of crucial customer data. Additionally, credit cards have the issue of authentication and recognition of electronic signatures. Cash on delivery mode of payment is manually painstaking and expensive as customers at times tend to not pay when the product is delivered home, and this leads to losses being incurred by companies. At the same time, the scope for expansion in the industry is galore because of the diversity of product choices for customers at affordable prices without compromising on quality and the convenience of having them delivered at their doorstep within a day or two of purchase. Some of the latest technological advancements which can help leverage these opportunities effectively are Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Machine Learning