An e-commerce blueprint for India's 'Next Half Billion'

by Madhav Tandan & Roopa Kudva

In reaching out to people new to the internet, E-commerce 2.0 will look, feel and function differently.

By 2022, half a billion Indians are expected to come online through their mobile phones, a population we refer to as India's Next Half Billion (NHB). Their internet journey starts with them gaining internet access, then moving forward step by step to eventually making commercial transactions online. The NHB differs considerably from the initial waves of internet users. They have very different income profiles, education levels, language skills, and social/cultural milieus. In the last 18-24 months, there has been considerable progress in addressing various barriers they face in their internet journey, due to efforts by entrepreneurs and various government initiatives. Consequently, the NHB is now at an inflexion point for online shopping. E-commerce 2.0 will expand the market beyond the relatively small 40-50 million sticky customer base of e-commerce 1.0. However, the new version will look, feel, and operate differently from the first wave of online shopping.

Read the full article on LiveMint.