Apparel April 2019 Apparel May 2019 issue | Page 36

FEATURE
Survival of the Fittest
In a bid to ensure customer loyalty, e-commerce platforms are opting for ‘omni-
commerce’ to build business ecosystems that cater to multiple products and
services. Janice Goveas takes a look at what is fuelling this transformation.
E-commerce really took off post 2007 in India.
The first phase of e-commerce in the country
started off with the arrival of essential service-
driven websites such as IRCTC, MakeMyTrip,
Yatra, Naukri and a few matrimonial websites.
“Services such as ticketing, travel, and matrimony
thrived, where the additional costs of delivery and
logistics did not matter,” points out Karthik Reddy,
Co-founder of Blume Ventures. Most of the
companies in this phase were still in the offline/
online model.
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I APPAREL I
May 2019
Since last year, India’s e-commerce space has
been taking a very interesting turn. The space has
seen some interesting upheavals in recent times,
having learnt from its mistakes. From an online
platform, the e-commerce industry has explored
multiple channels for sale, eventually evolving and
graduating to being omnichannel. But where does
it go from here? With a plethora of omnichannel
and pseudo omnichannel players coming into
the picture, how do e-commerce players ensure
stickiness to their brand in this cluttered market?