(Representative image)CHENNAI: E-tailing market is moving away slowly from just selling mobile phones and electronics to grocery and fashion products.
A study by management consulting firm RedSeer said that the share of mobiles and electronics has dropped to 38% in the January-March quarter of 2019 from 45% in the same time last year. It has been steadily dropping since then. During April-June last year it fell to 44%, and to 40% in the following quarter and to 39% in October-December last year.
“Indian e-tailing ecosystem always had a high share of mobile devices category, with the figure often exceeding 50% of all gross merchandise volume (GMV) in certain quarters. The mobile category share started dropping below 40% since 2018 and likely to stay at 35% for 2019 as a whole,” said RedSeer Consulting director Ujjwal Chaudhry.
Mobiles and electronics still take the largest share of the pie, followed by fashion — which hovered around 21-23%.
Industry players feel that the change bodes well for the whole ecosystem — for horizontals; it indicates a clear pathway to profitability, with a GMV composed of higher margin non-mobile categories. For verticals, this growing comfort with non-electronics helps them to increase their total consumer base and attract buyers by offering a better experience. RedSeer’s Chaudhry adds that while for customers it means convenience and better options, for e-tailers it margins move on from just sub 10% (with mobiles and electronics) to 30-40% with smaller articles.
[“source=timesofindia.indiatimes”]
