By Kushal Nahata
Shrugging off rising inflation, fuel price hikes, and global supply chain snarls, the retail industry in India is growing. Skyrocketing online retail sales are set to push the gross merchandise value (GMV) even higher. Experts predict that by 2026, India’s retail industry will be valued at $1.4 billion with the e-commerce market growing to $120-140 billion by FY26.
Some clear trends are emerging. For instance, live commerce is the future — it is already shaking up the e-commerce landscape in APAC. Live streaming is set to grow as it provides retailers an opportunity to bring their brands even closer to the consumer. India’s live commerce market is expected to touch GMV of $4-5 billion by 2025. YouTube is set to tap the live-stream commerce market in India where the creators with at least 20,000 subscribers shall be able to tag shopping links to their videos and live streaming. Amazon Live recently featured 150 creators who live-streamed and promoted products in between their shows.
This is the moment of truth for quick commerce platforms. Quick commerce companies in India like BlinkIt, Dunzo, and Swiggy’s Instamart have seen an upswing in orders but bottom lines have been hit and losses widened. In 2023, young quick commerce platforms will focus more on improving last-mile logistics infrastructure to achieve unit economics. Dunzo is already streamlining its operations by shuttering 25-30% of its dark stores in Delhi NCR and Hyderabad.
Now take this: By 2024, BigBasket plans to have a 90% EV fleet; Zepto is collaborating with Zypp Electric; Flipkart has joined hands with automakers like Hero Electric and Mahindra to electrify their delivery fleet; Amazon has promised that its delivery fleet will include at least 10,000 electric vehicles by 2025. Looks like EV adoption will increase with e-commerce companies looking to make their last-mile deliveries more environment-friendly.
That apart, some of the biggest retailers in the APAC region are racing to build their presence in the virtual world. Flipkart launched ‘Flipverse’ a virtual shopping experience for consumers on the metaverse. WizTales launched ‘Altyug’ India’s first ecommerce and events metaverse.
Last but not least, retailers will hyper-personalise their product offerings. Granular data will help analyse everything from cart abandonment to time spent on each product page. Using this data, retailers will make personalised product recommendations and make their messaging more specific.
In sum, 2023 will see companies double down on live commerce, sustainability, AR/VR, and personalisation, while many will have second thoughts on the quick commerce business. The e-commerce market will continue to drive the retail industry and whatever strategies companies implement in the coming year; customer-centricity will be at the heart of every corporate blueprint.
The author is CEO & co-founder, FarEye