With the blow of a
conch shell, the battle has already begun! When Airtel girl Sasha
Chhetri mocked her own self and became the most hated personality on
the Indian internet to promote the Airtel 4G challenge, Vodafone
smelled the opportunity and brought back its Pug Cheeka out of the
oblivion to hold the brand's banner of speedy and reliable 4G
connection. Recently, Idea Cellular too joined the race through its
#BiggestSmallChange communication campaign.
Stage Set for
E-commerce to M-commerce:
Sensing this
lucrative opportunity, e-commerce market is all set to taste the
fruits of lightening speed 4G connection. With 4G- the fourth
generation telecom technology that offers quick data downloads will
enable them to give richer shopping experience to its customers.
Through enticing visual search
features and streaming video content, online shopping will undergo a
dramatic transformation to make easy the desired product search and
viewing experience for customers.
To gain bigger benefits of 4G's cutting-edge speed and connectivity, e-commerce are turning into m-commerce. As per one of the researches, the number of smartphone subscriptions in the country is expected to witness the significant rise of 810 million by 2021. Hence, to provide on-the go smooth sailing online shopping experience any time and any where, e-commerce retailers are going the mobile way.
Gen Y demands
better services:
A study by telecom
gear maker Ericsson reported that the young smartphone users in India
aged between 15-24 years demand better data speed and coverage, and
are even ready to pay premium charges for the same. 4G network
enables these youngsters to stream music and watch videos online at
dazzling speed. Not just this, uploading Facebook status, watching
live TV, downloading heavy files and playing games, browsing and
every other task can give you an enriched 4G network using
experience.
The study has also
revealed that the average mobile data consumption per smartphone is
expected to increase five times to 7 GB per month by 2021. In such a
scenario, e-commerce industry can be a game-changer in providing
their services on such a high-speed network.
India has the
third largest online population
According to
industry reports, 35% of traffic in online shopping comes from mobile
phones. The number of smartphone users in India is estimated to grow
at a CAGR of 35% in the next 6 years. Given that 60% of online sales
are placed through smartphones and that penetration of smartphones is
expected to increase to 440 Mn by 2020 from 74 Mn currently, there is
a huge potential for the e-tail market pie to grow. Consequently, we
expect online shoppers to increase from 35 Mn currently to 190 Mn by
2020.
As per the latest
available information with the government, mobile data usage has
increased by 135% from 2013-14 to 2015-16. With the wide spread of 4G
network which provides high-speed connectivity, data usage is bound
to increase not just in urban but also in rural areas.
Online shopping
activity will gain a momentum in this situation where e-commerce
players can gain maximum benefits. More traffic, more profits and
more customers will be soon on the plate of e-commerce players who
will adapt with the changing data network scenario in the country.
