Digital commerce: India accounts below 1% total retail sales

Mumbai: India accounts for less than one percent of the total retail sales despite being the fastest digital commerce market in Asia, growing at 40 percent each year, according to research firm Gartner.

"India represents a USD 7 billion digital commerce market, growing at more than 40 percent every year.

"Currently, B2C commerce leads the market in India, while B2B is limited to organisations that drive online sales while trying to cut costs in dealing with their partners and distributors," Gartner Managing Vice President Gene Alvarez said in a statement.

Digital commerce is the buying and selling of goods and services using the Internet, mobile networks and commerce infrastructure.

Mobile commerce is a primary channel for digital commerce in India. Over 40 percent of digital commerce transactions came from a mobile device in 2014, and it is likely to exceed 50 percent in 2015.

Due to the low Internet penetration in India, the country is leapfrogging the PC, and consumers are using mobile as the primary channel for online shopping, it noted.

"There is a lot of hype due to the high growth and high expectation of the market, and many companies are fast expanding to grab market share and increase visibility.

"However, the fierce competition is pushing up costs while the average order value remains low. Players need to execute on the basics to ensure the growth is sustainable," Alvarez said.

Customer experience, product range, delivery, payment and customer service are the top five things Indian digital commerce players should focus on to grow their business, Gartner said.