Around 24% Indians shop online once a month: report

Indians spend 13 hours on browsing, 10 hours on socialising, 6 hours on emails every week

As the online retail industry in the country is on the verge of touching the Rs 3,600 crore mark, a recent research report indicated that around 24% Indians shop online at least once a month.

The e-Retail Report 2013 published by Franchise India, an integrated franchise solution company, points out that 24% Indians are shopping online once a month, and 57% are spending Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 in one go.

"With more than 137 million Internet users and more than 400 e-portals in India it is not surprising that online retail in the country is growing at an annual rate of 40%. eRetail turnover is on the verge of hitting the Rs 3,600 crore mark. The upswing in the industry is attributed to the increasing number of connected Indians who are shopping online, and the increased amount of spend each connected individual is doing on their favoured sites, " said Gaurav Marya, chairman, Franchise India. He added that, "The demographics are clear; while it is the urban population that makes 0up most of online shoppers, there is an ever-increasing number of customers coming from tier-II and tier-III cities."

The report highlights that current statistics shows that in India there are 40 million unique visitors and the number is increasing day by day. The market is expected to reach Rs 3,600 crore by the end of 2013, and it is expected to swell upto Rs 7200 crore by 2015.

India is among the fastest growing Internet markets adding more than 20 million users every year. Presently, India has more than 137 million Internet users, and growing at the annual rate of 41%. Also, Indians spend 13 hours on browsing, 10 hours on socialising and six hours on emails every week.

The online retail penetration has increased up to 60%, and the country has 40 million unique online shopping website visitors per month, and this number is increasing at the rate of 45% annually.

Among categories, apparel has been the fastest growing category in eRetail and reaches 15% online users in India. Vertical e-commerce categories, including baby products, shoes and other lifestyle categories, have also shown good growth.

Most of the comparison shopping sites have shown the growth over of 75%, the report claims.

Direct debit is the most commonly used payment type contributing to over 50% of the overall payments of online shopping in India. Cash on Delivery (COD), which is a popular mode of payment, forms close to 20% of the total eRetail transactions.