India is the fastest growing e-commerce market in the Asia-Pacific region and is expected to touch $6 billion (about ₹3.7 lakh crore) by next year, research firm Gartner said today.

“Digital commerce is at a nascent stage in India. However, India is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in Asia/Pacific,” Gartner Research Director Praveen Sengar said in a statement.

India represents a $3.5-billion e-commerce market, growing at around 60-70 per cent a year, but that is less than 4 per cent of the total retail market, he added.

“B2C (business to consumer) e-commerce leads the market in India, while B2B (business to business) is limited to organisations that drive online channels to integrate with their partners and distributors,” Sengar said.

Mobile commerce is finding increasing traction in shopping, Gartner said, adding that marketplaces, consumer product goods and food and beverages companies have started investing in this segment.

“However, less than 5 per cent of total digital commerce happens through mobile. M-commerce will help organisations skip the desktop wave with increasing penetration of affordable smart devices with connectivity and a rapidly growing ecosystem to engage customers on mobile,” it said.

Thirty per cent of traffic for e-commerce sites come from mobile and tablets.

Limited Internet penetration, low digital commerce volume, multiple payment models (like cash on delivery, credit card and wire transfers), logistics and fulfilment challenges, higher return rates and low average order value are putting pressure on profitability and viability of the B2C e-commerce businesses, Gartner said.

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