Online Shopping Set to Rise 78% This Year: Assocham -PwC Study

About 55 million consumers purchased something online in 2015 and the number is expected to grow to 80 million this year with better infrastructure in terms of logistics, broadband and Internet-ready devices, it pointed out.

The overall e-commerce industry, valued at $25 billion has been growing at a compounded annual growth rate of about 35-40 per cent each year, the study said, adding that it is expected to cross the $100 billion mark in five years.

In 2015, it showed that a higher amount was being spent on average for popular categories such as bags by 110 per cent, apparel by 68 per cent and cosmetics by 25 per cent, when it comes to online shopping.  There was also a significant increase in spending on categories such as watches by 126 per cent and artificial jewellery by 65 per cent.

"The smartphone and tablet shoppers will be strong growth drivers. Mobile phones already account for 11 per cent of e-commerce sales, and their share will jump to 25 per cent by 2017, adds the joint study.

India's travel and tourism are second fastest growing travel and tourism industry in the world. Nearly 75 per cent of total travel related business has migrated to e-commerce. With nearly one-third of Internet users already making purchases online, the e-commerce growth will rely more on increased spending from existing buyers than first-time online buyers, it said.

Other factors contributing to the growth of e-commerce include aggressive merchandising and discounting from flash sales and daily deals, more online loyalty programmes and increasing popularity of smartphones and tablet computers among consumers, the study added.