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E-tailing in India
The word E-tail has its roots in the word ‘retail’. Here the letter E stands for ‘electronic’ since the shopping process happens through the electronic media (internet). With the use of a web-space a virtual shop is created and the products are displayed through images in this space with the features and price tags. By accessing this shopping site a customer can choose his/her products into a cart. The payment to this product can be done in various modes as mentioned by the shopping site. The product would be delivered to the address specified by the customer.

BACKGROUND Retail e-commerce (or e-tailing) is perhaps the most written about retail topic in recent days. But unlike the sudden spurt in attention it has received, this has not been an overnight phenomenon. Somewhere in mid-90s VSNL introduced internet to India and the 2000’s  was the  decade when internet penetration increased steadily, technology advancements enabled better online interfaces with safer transactions and e-commerce inched into common man’s life through travel retail, financial services and e-tailing. Now that the critical mass has been achieved, the decade of 2010 is taking this phenomenon to the next level where it no longer can be ignored.

GROWTH

E-commerce market size in India is estimated to be USD 14 Billion in 2012 and is projected to reach USD 74 Billion by 2017. E-tailing is essentially the selling of retail products and services through internet. Late 1990’s and early 2000’s saw launch of several e-tailing sites like www.rediff.com, www.indiaplaza.com etc. However, the real defining entry in this domain was that of Flipkart in 2007 and since then we have seen an increased urgency in the space with the entry of several new players across categories; highly discounted pricing;  better interfaces  and delivery; high decibel  media campaigns; investments in players at high valuations - all leading to  aggressive competition to grow and scale-up as quickly as possible. Though e-tailing is still a very small part of overall retail in India (0.2%), it is projected to grow at a fast pace (reaching ~2% by 2017) and over the next decade its presence will be even more significant.

Steps involved in E-tailing:-

The shopping process through internet media happens in 5 steps generally.

Customer visit: The customer accesses the website of the e-tailer through his/her mobile or PC or laptop. This visit is very critical to the e-tailer because it is this visit that would create an opportunity for a business. The simplicity of the site, the arrangements of the products in the site and various other factors decide the first impression of the customer. Choice of product: Once the customer visits the site he/she would choose a product based on the image and valid information available on the web page. This information can include the price tag, details about the product, availability/deliverable time span and even customer reviews on the product.

Payment online: Once the customer chooses the product the next step would be to go through a secure process of data exchange. The e-tailer may provide a unique user account to the customer to keep the transaction safe. Payments to the product can be made online through credit or debit card or even cash on delivery basis where the customer pays the e-tailer when the product is delivered to him/her.

Product delivery: Once the order is placed with the e-tailer the next process would test the efficiency of supply chain network of the e-tailer. The delivery of the product would be based on the availability of the product in the inventory closest to the customer’s delivery address. This process may also involve shipment of the product. There are different methods used in this process. Some e-tailers just create a platform through a website where the business actually takes place between the customer and a company (or business) who is a client to the e-tailer. Here the e-tailer would just take the commission on each product sold. Typically an e-tailer may also choose to buy products that have potential demand and then display it on the site. In this case the e-tailer would have to take care of inventory expenses and also the entire procurement and disbursement cycle. Customer feedback: Once the product is delivered to the customer the feedback from the customer is very much important. This is primarily because of the absence of a real shopping store environment. The entire experience of the customer during the process would be an indicator of the efficiency of e-tailing. This experience of the customer can be accessed through proper customer service for feed backs and the problems faced by the customer should be corrected by the e-tailer. Late delivery, wrong product, damaged product etc. can be some of the customer complaints which the e-tailer would have to sort out.

E-tailers in India:- •	Yebhi.com •	Flipkart.com •	Infibeam.com •	Myntra.com •	E-bay.com •	Indiatimes shopping

There are several models through which e-tailers are targeting their customers: ‘Standard’ - This is the basic model wherein products are listed on the web portal, and customers browse and buy the products e.g. www.flipkart.com. Deal based - These sites focus on providing lucrative deals across product and service categories. e.g. www.snapdeal.com Club based –These sites position themselves as private shopping clubs and are open to members only E.g. www.fashionandyou.com Marketplaces - These sites essentially bring together buyers and sellers and serve as a platform for their interaction e.g. www.ebay.in

BUSINESS IMPLICATION While the loose ends of the retail sector are being tied up, e-tailing has emerged as a promising avenue and caught the attention of many entrepreneurs. This could very well be the beginning of an e-tail revolution. As the new phenomenon emerges, it should be understood that retailing is a serious business. With an increasing popularity and acceptance of Internet around the world, e-tailing is assuming increasingly greater significance. A number of products and services are on e-tail offer and novel plans are being worked out by many e-tailers. So, the dilemma continues: to retail or to e-tail? However, if we dig deeper, the comparison and contrast between retailing and e-tailing, and the differences in the way business is conducted in both the segments should become clearer. While the conventional retail is location-specific and the retailer is restricted to a particular location, an e-tailer operates on a global scale. Being local in nature, a brick-and-mortar retailer has to identify a good location for his operations and wait for the customers. On the other hand, an e-tailer has to virtually attract a customer to his site and offer him exemplary services. In fact, location is no longer the key to success if e-tailing is what we are talking about. Thus, while the target customer remains the same in both the categories, the mode of conducting business is changing dramatically. There is another distinct challenge thrown in by e-tailing. An e-tailer has to invest significant resources in retaining a customer who has shopped through his site. In the conventional retailing, almost half of the initial investment could go towards acquiring the real estate. Afterwards, a retailer has to spend considerable money, effort and time in setting up his shop, stocking inventory and creating display patterns. However, customer retention is not such an issue in conventional retail as compared to the e-tailing mode. CONCLUSION Retailers have always been subject to enormous competitive strain and the commonly perceived solution is to add ‘e’ to the business model in an attempt to capture the attention of a global shopping audience. Such an initiative results in no more than an additional channel and the successful company must have more than an electronic distribution medium - it must continue to provide what its customers want.

We are witnessing the tip of the iceberg. Such is the growth potential in the e-tailing industry that it is difficult to quantify the industry's size or growth. There are pros and cons in both the cases, be it conventional retailing or e-tailing. With so many hurdles around for e-tailing, it would take time before it really catches up. But, the trend has surely begun. In the future, we will see a peaceful and complementary co-existence of conventional retailing and e-tailing.