With the convenience of cash-on delivery, discounts and price cuts offered by e-commerce portals, the online shopping sites are fast becoming the preferred destination for buying tablet PCs in India. According to a recent research, e-commerce sites contribute about 8% to 10% of total monthly tablets sales in India.
According to a study by research firm Convergence Catalyst, while large format retail continues to be the leading channel for tablets sales in India, in the last two quarters, e-commerce sites (or Online Retail Stores) have begun to emerge as strong sales and marketing channels for these devices.
Jayanth Kolla, the author of the report said “Tablet, as a product segment/device is still relatively new to Indian consumers and the retail channel. A large section of the retail channel is not adequately equipped or confident in selling this product, and hence the channel margins are significantly high."
The study stated that majority of the tablets sold through E-Commerce sites are the low-end (sub $200) devices and it is the urban consumers who are adopting these devices, primarily for mobility and the web-browsing experience.
As per industry estimates, 0.35 million tablets were sold in India in 2011-2012. There were close to 210 models of tablets of 70 brands listed with the top 5 e-commerce sites (in terms of tablets sales) at the beginning of September 2012.
