Apparel April 2019 Apparel May 2019 issue | Page 40

FEATURE
The e-commerce policy that was introduced
from February 1, 2019 has placed restrictions on
the growth of e-commerce players by capping
‘exclusive’ sales on their platform, sales from
owned subsidiaries, etc. This obviously affects
the growth of e-commerce in the immediate
term, also probably fuelling innovation on the
e-commerce platforms. Customers might move
away from the platform owing to the discounts
that they would lose because of the e-commerce
policy. E-commerce platforms will have to
innovate to continue to enjoy customer loyalty
by introducing cashback and other interesting
payment modes that would ensure return use
of the website; Amazon Pay is a case in point,
where Amazon innovated faster than any of
its counterparts in India—in fact even starting
a trend.
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I APPAREL I
May 2019
FUTURE COURSE OF ACTION
Omni-commerce is only set to grow. As the
Indian consumer becomes more connected, it
will need e-commerce players to go beyond the
usual channels of engagement to interact with the
consumer. This would also probably explain why
Amazon bought a five per cent stake in Shoppers
Stop for R179.25 crore.
Rural India presents a very big opportunity
for e-tailers. A recent EY report reckons there is
immense under-tapped potential in tier II and tier
III cities, and the rural e-commerce sector can
be a US$10–12 billion opportunity in four years.
A fully integrated e-commerce platform will be
ideal for rural consumers who do not have to then
download multiple apps for a multitude of online
services. Flipkart is juggling with trying to offer its
app in vernacular languages, solving the issue of
affordability and selection, with a bid to reach to
the next 200–300 million customers in India.
For its part, the Government is doing its bit
to help Indian e-commerce players reach rural
markets. The draft e-commerce policy, released
in February 2019 (under consultation), focuses
on data privacy and protection, a domestic
ecosystem, and consumer protection. Foreign
e-tailers, however, may not be too thrilled.
Traditional retailers who have opposed e-tailing for
its predatory pricing and violation of competition
norms are likely to benefit.
While the industry waits and watches for
the final e-commerce policy once the new
government is formed, the party is just getting
started in the e-commerce space.