Keep e-shopping expectations low

Only one in seven Indians able to do any meaningful activity on their computers and smartphones

For sometime to come, e-commerce firms may have to bank on the urban population for sales growth as only one in seven Indians is able to do any meaningful activity with their computers/smartphones.

Akhilesh Tilotia of Kotak Institutional Equities in his report titled “How many internet literates in India?" says, “It might be prudent to keep shopping expectations low from people who are just about learning the digital alphabets. This, of course, is not considering their economic well-being.”

According to data from the 71st round of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), only half the urban youth and less than a fifth of those in rural India can operate a computer/smartphone and the proportions of those who can do complex activities are even lower.

“Urban India is better off with between a fourth and a third of its populace having dexterity to work on their digital devices; less than one in 12 rural Indians have such skills. It is quite possible to be communicative on social media without having email-writing skills or Googling skills,” says Tilotia.

There are 111 million rural men, 103 million rural women, 50 million urban men and 46 million urban women in the age range of 14-29 years. These 310 million people form the bulk of the ‘next big shoppers’ story in the Indian e-commerce space.

The report states that 48.9% of the youth in urban India in the age range of 14-29 can operate a computer; this proportion falls to 18.3% in rural India. Also, digital literacy among women trails men’s by 10 percentage-points and only a quarter of those in urban Indian in the age range of 30-45 years can operate a computer, this percentage is 4% in rural India.

“A huge adult-education program for digital literacy is the need of the hour,” says Tilotia.

E-commerce players are, however, trying to widen their consumer base by other means including making their sites accessible to those who prefer regional languages.

For Snapdeal, Hindi and Tamil versions of the platform has resulted in increased reach within the Hindi-heartland and Tamil Nadu. Close to 70% of sales on Snapdeal come from Tier-II and -III cities, Snapdeal had said in April.

“We feel in the long term, local languages will be a key requirement in our plans,” Latif Nathani, managing director, eBay India had told Business Standard this April. The Nasdaq-listed eBay, which completed a decade of operations in India, is looking at developing content in local languages. eBay provides sellers education material in six languages.

“It is always convenient to use one’s local language when shopping. If one has to become relevant and attract buyers, customisation and localisation will be key. Through these measures, e-commerce companies can cover the depth and the breadth of the market,” said Sandeep Ladda, partner, India Technology Sector Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Internet users in India have gone up from 50 million in 2007 to 300 million in 2014.

With over one-third non-English speaking internet users, e-commerce players see capturing customers in this segment as a next logial step.

Local language Internet users are growing at 40% per year. With online shopping gaining nationwide traction, there is a large population that would be more at ease shopping in their own language.