The E-commerce industry has transformed the way we live and do business in India. In India, it is at a very blossoming stage and merely valued at USD38.5 billion in 2017. The figures by Morgan Stanley suggests that the industry will reach USD 200 billion by 2026 is nothing short of an explosion. 14% population accessing the internet today also indulge in online shopping (as opposed to 64% in China). This will be seen mounting sevenfold by 2026 and reach a whopping 475 million who would then be seen shopping online for an increasing number of categories other than electronics and apparel (current trend). The biggest contributor to online sales was electronics at 48% followed by apparel at 29% in 2018
The primary reason for the growth of the E-commerce sector is an increasing user base for smart phones and the internet revolution supported by lowering the cost of data access. The government of India allotted INR 8,000 crore (USD1.23 billion dollars) to facilitate broadband services in rural India. Micro enterprises which have entered the sector are also playing a critical role in making it larger than life. Another reason is a drop in reluctance and better adaptability to the online shopping concept amongst masses and all age groups. The industry growth is at a take-off mode and there is no stopping it from here onwards.
The growth is however accompanied by several risks and liabilities. Given that the entire business revolves around big data, one has to safeguard that the data integrity is uncompromised and secured from cyber-attacks. The probability that a business may suffer a loss due to an unexpected event halting business operations such as a dysfunctional website or website being hacked, a third-party issue, or courier services chaos. In E-commerce industry possibility of inventory thefts, fire, damaged products can also lead to potential risk which needs to be covered sufficiently by the enterprise to run their business sustainably.
