E-commerce

Domestic & foreign ecommerce enablers rush to leverage the festive season

With the festive season here, ecommerce is gearing up to rake in business. Several companies are pitching in to support ecommerce players, especially in developing economies, where ecommerce is booming.

A Juniper Research study predicts that the global number of unique eCommerce users will reach 4.4 billion by 2027, growing from only 3.1 billion in 2022. Interestingly, it predicts that countries in the Asia Pacific region will be key drivers of this growth and will account for over 70% of these new global eCommerce users. Specifically, the report identified Bangladesh, Pakistan and India as countries that will add over 600 million new eCommerce users alone over the next five years as increased Internet access and more comprehensive retail supply chains support growth.

This is an opportunity for merchants, small and big, to rake in some festival moolah. But they will need support. Merchants to focus on increasing average spend and transactions per user, as access to eCommerce services proliferates in Asia Pacific. Merchants can implement tech like AI-based sentiment analysis to identify consumer preferences to achieve this.

Merchants who provide personalised eCommerce experiences and offers will be best positioned to capitalise on the growth of eCommerce in Asia Pacific. However, early-mover advantage will be key to gaining the wealth of transactional information needed to launch personalised experiences as early as possible.

It’s no wonder that many companies, domestic and foreign, are making moves to enable such merchants.

For instance, ClickPost, an ecommerce enabler and LimeChat, a WhatsApp commerce provider tied up to integrate ClickPost’s NDR (Non-Delivery Response) resolution workflow with LimeChat’s WhatsApp platform. E-commerce businesses can use this workflow that combines ClickPost’s comprehensive shipping and customer experience management services with LimeChat’s conversion-focused WhatsApp platform. It is designed to lower failed delivery rates through automated WhatsApp communication with the buyer.

NDRs are one of the biggest problems faced in e-commerce today
Aniket Bajpai, Co-Founder, LimeChat

Aniket Bajpai, Co-Founder, LimeChat added, “NDRs are one of the biggest problems faced in e-commerce today. We are very excited to combine the power of ClickPost’s logistics with our 2-way WhatsApp communication capabilities to build a solution that can create a great buying experience for consumers and a better bottom line for brands.”

This integration has recently been leveraged by Kapiva, a D2C ayurvedic wellness brand. Kapiva was able to double the response rate on NDR notifications, resulting in increased delivery reattempts. With an RTO reduction of over 10%, Kapiva successfully refined the customer experience regarding failed deliveries and established a better line of communication with its customers.

In August, Vinculum Group, an omnichannel SaaS software and SellerApp, an e-commerce analytics company, tied up to empower more than 300 brands including industry leaders and disruptors Atomberg, Godrej Interio.

Foreign Companies Are Eyeing the Indian Ecommerce Pie

Foreign companies are growing quite interested too. In September, Yango Tech, a global tech company providing proprietary technologies and expertise for retailers and e-commerce, announces its entry into the Indian market. The company helps traditional retailers transform from brick-and-mortar to online trade or improve the operational effectiveness of existing online grocery businesses. The tech stack was proven at scale and now powers more than 500 dark stores worldwide.

Although e-grocery penetration might not hold a substantial share of India’s market at present, the market’s potential is significant when considering the prevailing global shift towards digital shopping experiences
Max Avtukhov, CEO of Yango Tech

“India boasts one of the world’s most rapidly growing grocery markets, expanding by 8 percent annually. Although e-grocery penetration might not hold a substantial share of India’s market at present, the market’s potential is significant when considering the prevailing global shift towards digital shopping experiences. Our unwavering commitment lies in offering bespoke solutions tailored to the unique needs of the Indian market, thereby propelling Indian e-grocers to emerge as global benchmarks within the sector,” stated Max Avtukhov, CEO of Yango Tech.

Yango Tech already has a presence across the MENA region with clients including PtteM, an e-commerce subsidiary of Turkey’s national post operator, and Nana, a leading e-grocer in Saudi Arabia. The company has ambitious plans for the Indian grocery retail market.

The company offers technology solutions to boost the efficiency and competitiveness of Indian grocery retailers, enabling these companies to deliver goods on time and in full. For traditional businesses, this means an opportunity to advance the current business model from offline to online, at the same time avoiding unnecessary costs of maintaining non-core functions.

E-grocers can benefit from smart technology solutions that improve their operational efficiency and enable them to better manage their business – including supply chain, fulfillment, and delivery processes.

The tech stack includes a variety of solutions for fulfillment, commerce, delivery, client experience, and analytics. Among the proprietary technologies are: white-label store app, warehouse management system (WMS) and assortment management (ERP), stock tracking and product replenishment, technologies for assigning orders to couriers, smart routing solutions, as well as applications for customers, pickers, and couriers. All of this helps businesses to achieve 99.9% stock accuracy, reduce write-offs and useless mileage, enhance customer experience, and as a result improve unit economics. The platform also provides live business intelligence dashboards to pivot and make informed business decisions.

Indian Ecommerce Market Growth & Trends

The Indian e-commerce market is growing rapidly, with the average Indian online shopper spending about US$100 per month on e-commerce. Moreover, a study from Juniper Research says the further growth of today’s US$5.3 trillion eCommerce market will continue driven by increased usage in developed markets, and significant adoption in emerging markets. As eCommerce continues to outperform brick-and-mortar retail, new and evolving payment systems will enable much greater access to the eCommerce landscape; creating significant vendor opportunities.

As the number of transactions and payment methods within eCommerce continues to increase, it is important for governing bodies to take action through implementing regulations and mandates. These new mandates will represent an important opportunity for network tokenization vendors to grow their revenue
Research author Cara Malone

Juniper Research forecasts 190% growth in network-tokenized transactions, reaching 400 billion globally in 2028, up from 140.3 billion in 2023. These transactions include online and desktop eCommerce transactions, mobile payments and IoT transactions.

In fact, the report anticipates a surge in network tokenization mandates, following successful market implementations, citing the example of the Reserve Bank of India, which requires tokenization for all credit and debit cards used for online transactions from October 2022.

Research author Cara Malone says, “As the number of transactions and payment methods within eCommerce continues to increase, it is important for governing bodies to take action through implementing regulations and mandates. These new mandates will represent an important opportunity for network tokenization vendors to grow their revenue.”

Navanwita Bora Sachdev

Navanwita is the editor of The Tech Panda who also frequently publishes stories in news outlets such as The Indian Express, Entrepreneur India, and The Business Standard