Unshackle e-commerce

Online retail can do better without current policy hurdles

India’s e-commerce sector has grown quickly despite an uncertain policy environment. In 2013, online retail accounted for less than 1 per cent of the retail market. By 2018, it is reckoned to have crossed 3 per cent. Indeed, in several categories of electronics such as personal computers and smartphones, e-commerce holds a far larger market share. Even in non-traditional items such as furniture and high-end fashion labels, growth has been phenomenal. E-commerce companies such as Amazon and Flipkart have reportedly spent over Rs 5 billion in marketing during the just-concluded Navratri period, and they will, presumably, spend more in the