by With the digital revolution several homes became upgraded with faster internet connections, and the websites saw an adaptation of increased usage. More people preferred the web space to do their daily shopping and rather avoid the inconvenience of driving down all the way to stores , standing in queue and purchasing stuffs
India was a bit late to the internet era but it saw a never before seen growth in quick time. Flipkart was the first, atleast among the major players while Amazon had a softer launch in India. Snapdeal, Myntra, Jabong all came along almost immediately
This had a huge overnight impact on the whole e-commerce space where business grew like many folds. People realized the power and impact a website can have over sales of a physical store. This happened when Flipkart began testing of a Flash sale model to sell Xiaomi mobile phones for 13K
They had an email registration process and only those who registered were able to login and buy the phone at the given time. The websites claimed that they sold 50-60000 units in about two minutes which was a sales record. No physical mobile store could sell more than 50-60 pieces a day and here was this site which could sell 50K phones in a matter of minutes
The impact of e-commerce was massive. Absolutely noone predicted this growth as even small Tier2 and Tier 3 cities began looking up things in Amazon, Flipkart or Snapdeal. The prices offered for a mobile or TV in an online site was almost 5-10k lesser than stores. This price difference, overnight delivers, 30 day replacement policies and the freedom to do a cash on delivery features made it a worthwhile deal for people to consider an online purchase
This worked both ways for both sellers as well as buyers. A mobile case seller from a small city in Tamilnadu like Trichy or Salem was able to sell to a customer sitting in the interior parts of Rajasthan for a cheaper price than what he could purchase locally. This was the true impact of globalization and e-commerce being implemented at the most local lever possible
Replacements and easy returns was unheard of in the clothing, shoes or electronics industry before. Now websites began offering 7,10 or even 30 day replacement policy with a no questions guarantee of your money . People felt safe and assured to purchase things online than being duped in a local counterfeit store
The impact of E-Com sites is hitting the right nerves and totally here to stay
This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.
