How Bharat is helping mobile commerce achieve scale

Growing smartphone penetration in India is resulting in growing adaptation of the device for content consumption, internet access as well as online shopping. According to Statista, mobile retail e-commerce sales in India were estimated to be valued at nearly $38 billion by 2020, a significant growth since 2015. Mobile and online retail purchasing in India are seen to be highest during the weeks leading up to Diwali, with a slew of sales bonanzas offered by different e-commerce players. The convenience offered by mobile phones for shopping online and more ease and security levels introduced in online payments have made consumers adopt this mode of buying in greater numbers.

In India, 70% of the consumers prefer to use their mobile phones to make transactions, according to a recent study by PayPal. Only 43% of the consumers worldwide prefer to make purchases using mobile devices, but India remains at the forefront of e-commerce. The percentage is expected to reach 54% by 2023.

Adgully spoke to a cross-section of industry experts to gauge the growth of mobile commerce in India, especially Tier 2, 3 and rural markets, as well as the factors fuelling this growth.

Amar Jyoti, Head of Marketing, upGrad Abroad, noted that with smartphone ownership rapidly on the rise, Mobile Commerce is fast becoming consumers’ preferred shopping channel. “Technology will play a major role in this upswing,” he added.

According to him, One-click ordering, Social Commerce, Retail Mobile Apps, VR & AR, Chatbots, and Voice searches are some of the features that redefine the entire mobile shopping experience in the times to come.

“At the same time, there is still a large percentage of consumers who prefer the omnichannel route of combining smartphone searches with an in-store visit. It makes it imperative for retailers to symbiotically blend physical commerce with pre-purchase mobile touchpoints. How well the retailer can adapt to this new trend by coming up with mobile-friendly websites and superior shopping experiences will define the success mantra for them,” he added.

The digital currency

The way that consumers shop these days has undergone a significant transformation. The fact that people can now buy anything and anything online is what drives up consumer spending. It is a natural human instinct to make a buy when looking for deals and sales on a specific item. All eCommerce sites employ this tactic to attract sporadic purchases from consumers by offering generous deals and offers on products they wouldn’t typically be able to afford.

“Digital currency can potentially change the shopping behaviour of Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. I also see a rise in traditional commerce, and that rise will be faster than it has ever been. Collectively, with India shopping more, we will have a very rapid growth for m-comm,” said Naresh Gupta, Co-founder, Bang In The Middle.

Gupta noted, “Mobile Commerce is worth $38 billion and rising, so no way can we not pay attention to the segment. Three things have driven the rise of m-commerce: penetration of smartphones, the internet on mobiles, and the pandemic that locked people to their phones. I see a massive spike coming from m-commerce segments. What will aid it is 5G, which will add speed to the whole process. The phones, especially at the mass end, will become better, with better screen tech allowing people to have better experiences despite the pandemic being over, the habit of shopping whenever will be there.”

Gupta saw two more factors that will aid the rise of mobile commerce. According to him, “The rise of video-aided commerce will become a big factor in making people buy, and the coming in of digital currency, which is not UPI driven and is not bank-to-bank driven, will open up this segment more.”

Ravi Kabra, Founder of Skippi Ice Pops, remarked, “Now that mobile commerce has grown to include more retail commerce options like quick commerce and e-commerce apps, it allows direct access to the digital natives of the Indian market. The repeat users of m-commerce are the millennials, and GenZ is experimentative, which is ideal for new companies launching products.”

“In a digital India, we are going to increasingly see payments being made via mobiles and retail purchases through the same medium. On our website, we only accept digital payments and have no option for COD and have seen repeat buyers coming through this medium. In the coming years, this number will only increase as in the coming year's digital natives start driving product demands. In the retail industry offline we are seeing a huge digital push again and out of the 10,000 outlets we service, almost the majority of them seem to have digital payment options. We are very excited to see where the future goes regarding the same. Marketing on mobile commerce to reach more people affordably will be revolutionary for new businesses like ours.” Kabra further said.

Sandesh Sarang, Revenue Director – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Infobip, added here that the evolving consumer behaviour is now inclined towards convenient experiences, tailored to each individual’s interests. Also, e-commerce today has evolved from being transactional to being conversational.

He pointed out, “India is a fast-growing growing economy, riding high on the mobile commerce revolution. Between April and July 2022, India clocked in Rs 3,200 crore of digital transactions, while the UPI transactions went up 73% YOY, with over 7 billion transactions. These statistics are a strong marker of both – the growth that mobile commerce has registered so far in the country, and the stellar future that lies ahead for the space. This growth can be attributed to the rapid digitisation of processes during the pandemic, along with the increasing penetration of smartphones and mobile internet in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.”

As many as 67% of people prefer communicating with companies through messaging apps. Businesses are taking note of this growing trend, the prime example being Uber allowing customers to hail taxi rides through WhatsApp. “Conversational commerce is, therefore, enabling mobile commerce by adding a new dimension to the setup. In light of the rolling out of 5G services in the country, in addition to the growing popularity of new-age tech enabling conversational mobile transactions, consumers from metros, smaller cities, and rural regions alike are expected to increasingly choose mobile commerce in the time to come,” Sarang added.

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