So much for women being tagged as compulsive shopaholics — in the virtual world at least, the reality appears to be just the opposite . When it comes to online shopping, men are the big-ticket buyers with 75 per cent of males spending Rs 10,000 – Rs 30,000 annually, as compared to a meagre 25 per cent of women, a Franchise India report reveals.

Travel and ticket booking still rule the e-commerce pie. As for other products and services, the majority of Indian online buyers are still of the view that the touch and feel of the product is important in the buying decision. In fact 47 per cent of shoppers feel that shopping online is risky both in terms of online payment and product quality.

Conservative approach

While India's e-retail business is growing, most buyers are still conservative, with nearly half — 49 per cent to be exact — of all buyers still spending a total of under Rs 10,000 annually in online buys.

Numbers notwithstanding, experts believe India's e-commerce market is expected to grow from $10 billion in 2011 to $200 billion by 2020. Furthermore, nearly $350 million has been pumped into 40 e-commerce start-ups till the end 2011 compared to $43 million in 11 companies in 2009.

Gearing for a bullish run on the back of the internet revolution, Indian online retail industry is slated to touch Rs 7,000 crore by 2015, estimates the report, released in advance of an upcoming e-retail meet.

Mr Gaurav Marya, President, Franchise India, says: “With 100 million internet users supporting the e-revolution, the total number of transactions in India is set to take a leap from the present 8-10 million to 40 million by 2015. It has been observed that Tier-II & Tier-III cities are joining the e-Retail revolution.”

> heena.k@thehindu.co.in

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