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Evolution of e Commerce in India PDF
Evolution of e Commerce in India PDF
e-commerce in India
Creating the bricks
behind the clicks
2 PwC
Foreword Acknowledgement
Recent years have seen a remarkable transformation in the On behalf of ASSOCHAM I would like to thank the team at PwC
way India shops and trades. E-commerce has taken the world for preparing a comprehensive and neutral white paper ‘Evolution
of retail by storm and captivated the imagination of an entire of e-commerce in India: Creating the bricks behind the clicks.‘
generation of entrepreneurs, with e-commerce ventures with The e-commerce industry is one of the fastest growing sectors
various business and commercial models. The explosive growth in the country today, spurring first generation entrepreneurs,
in the last few years has already catapulted the biggest firms large scale manufacturing by SMEs, jobs and most importantly
among these ventures past the billion-dollar territory. The sector impacting the infrastructure growth of the country.
has grown three times in four years to nearly 12.6 billion USD We hope that this paper will be read by all the relevant
in 2013. Various industry estimates project that the sector will stakeholders of the industry and that they will benefit from its
further growth five to seven times over the next four to five years. extensive research.
Online retail, while today representing a small fraction of the
e-commerce space is one of the fastest growing segments.
It is also the most challenging in fulfilling its fundamental
proposition of transcending physical boundaries to deliver a
variety of products to the customer’s doorstep. Logistics and
infrastructure in e-retailing becomes the very backbone of the
fulfilment network and the basis on which stringent service level
expectations are set and met, and customer mind-space among D S Rawat
competing alternatives is won. In India, these are arguably the ASSOCHAM
weakest links, and therefore the enhanced need for greater
attention and management bandwidth to these critical functions.
We estimate that a large proportion of investment in
e-commerce retail will flow into logistics and infrastructure.
In the absence of an incumbent ecosystem, e-commerce
providers are beginning to build these functions from scratch.
This will also spawn infrastructural investments into allied
sectors such as warehousing, air cargo, road and rail-based
transport transportation. As delivery reach and fulfilment
networks become more entrenched and increasingly complex,
opportunities will emerge for logistics service providers and
3PL players. All of these trends point to a bright future for
talented entrepreneurs, operational managers as well as greater
employment opportunities for blue-collared workers.
Manish R Sharma
Logistics Leader, PwC India
4 PwC
traceability solutions and convenient Need for different production cycles, nature and variety of
reverse logistics have become the most management of physical the SKUs to even local taxation laws. The
important elements of differentiation for infrastructure conventional order point occurs at retail
providers. stores and static customer fronts located
The business model of the conventional at the end of the chain, and inventory
While the current logistics challenges retailers and e-commerce providers
relating to manufacturing and requirements are predicted empirically
differ significantly. The conventional based on several months or years of past
distribution of consumer products infrastructure model relies on increasing
and organised retail are well-known, data. In fact, competing sales channels
depth and breadth of coverage through may also duplicate infrastructure, an
the demands of e-commerce raise the several inventory nodes, warehouses
associated complexities to a different indication of the typical sub-ordination
and stocking points connected by based of the logistics function within the overall
level. E-commerce retailers are well- on various other factors ranging from
aware of these challenges and are sales and distribution process.
cognizant of the need to invest in capital
and operational assets. Conventional retail model
6 PwC
It is important to note that each product nearest supplier or regional warehouse.
category will have its own customised Flipkart is growing its logistics arm
logistics requirements which can alter the E-Kart whereas Amazon India is building
balance between inventory and supply capacities with its logistic arm Amazon
chain costs. Logistics.
Within the apparel and lifestyle category, While establishing the captive logistics
for example, localised suppliers or infrastructure was a consequence of need
warehouses can be used to good effect for better service delivery by actively
in tune with the buying patterns controlling the logistics chain, it has
and ensuring seasonal inventory pushed up the delivery costs. According
replenishment. For books, music and to industry benchmarks, the delivery
video, a large centralised inventory for cost in the captive logistics models are
a large region may be better suited. For 10 to 20% expensive than the 3PLs
consumer electronics and durables, whose expertise lies in quick delivery at
which have lesser SKU proliferation, an affordable cost. Further, the logistics
higher product value and higher security set-up and requirements in developing
and handling needs, a JIT and direct countries are also dependent on the
fulfillment model may need to be put in purchasing behaviour of the customers
place. For hot and cold merchandising,
localised sourcing and continuous Chief characteristics of the
availability of temperature controlled e-commerce market which
infrastructure throughout the supply
impact the logistics models
chain becomes the critical need. The
challenge is to ensure that the supply • ‘Cash-on-delivery’: India has
chain needs of the specific product been a vibrant cash economy
segments are married with customer where the consumer’s purchasing
propositions that offer better customer behaviour involves an initial overall
inspection of the product from
value than traditional retail models.
different perspectives and paying
Logistics infrastructure to be subsequently. Further, customers in
India do not extend much trust on
the weakest link in the Indian
the transit facilities for the delivery
e-commerce story of the products. This has resulted
Logistics in developing economies such as in ‘cash-on -delivery’ (COD) as
India may act as the biggest barrier to the a preferred payment option of
growth of the e-commerce industry. Till majority of the Indian consumers
date, logistics models developed in India buying online.
target the metropolitan and the Tier-1 • Consumers in India expect the
cities where there is a mix of affluent return process to be seamless and
and middle classes and the internet convenient. However, with an
expectation of return of the items
penetration is adequate. In India, about
purchased online, online shoppers
90% of the goods being ordered online
have made available the option to
are moved by air, which increases the
return the purchased goods at the
delivery costs for the e-retailers. behest of the retailer. Retailers have
Most e-retailers were initially dependent considered this option of return to
on third party delivery firms. However develop trust and confidence which
as the market evolves and customer results in seamless subsequent
expectations increase, city or geography purchases and positive word-of-
centric service levels are becoming mouth support.
the need of the hour. Moreover, issues • Free and quick home delivery
specific to e-retailing such as the is another characteristic of the
e-commerce industry in India.
problems associated with fake addresses,
E-retailers offer free delivery of
cash-on-delivery and higher expected
the products within a promised
return rates have made e-retailers
timeline. Though this may be
consider setting up their captive capital
unsustainable in the long run but
intensive logistic businesses. For e-retailers have to offer the same
instance, Flipkart has set up several convenience of free and quick
regional warehouses and is constantly shipping to compete with other
increasing the supplier base across the retailers.
country to achieve low transportation
cost by ensuring delivery from the
These factors will call for strengthening
Flipkart (inventory-led model) Amazon India (marketplace
the logistics infrastructure and
increased number of failing which Flipkart has started as a price model)
the e-retailers will have to start up comparison online portal with an Amazon started practicing the
or strengthening their own logistics initial investment of 8,000 USD and market place model by launching its
counterparts. Higher delivery costs can later turned into an e-retailing giant site in early 2013 in India. It started
result in withdrawal of free delivery which recently ticked the 1 billion USD registering electronics goods sellers
by e-retailers on the back of high in gross merchandise volume. It started and ended FY 2013 offering nearly 15
delivery costs and complex business with a consignment model where million products.
models threatening already wafer-thin goods were procured on demand
Amazon India has two fulfillment
business margins. and turned into inventory e-retailer
centers in Mumbai and Bangalore
supported by registered suppliers
and plans to start five new fulfillment
Infrastructure will demand since it provided better control on the
centres across the country. Known for
a large proportion of logistics chain.
its strong last-mile delivery network,
investment in e-commerce Flipkart established warehouses in Amazon India has set up a logistics arm
Active management of logistics, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata named Amazon Logistics and started
infrastructure and service levels is managing a fine balance between offering same day delivery.
core to the e-commerce business in inventory and cost of delivering goods.
any market. E-retailers need to have Facing difficulties from the 3PLs
a hybrid model of their own captive in the form of higher delivery cost,
logistics arm which takes care of late deliveries and faulty products
their specific business model needs delivered resulting in return and
and strictly monitored service level customer dissatisfaction, it has started
agreements with 3PLs to rationalise the its own logistics arm named e-Kart.
delivery costs. E-Kart provides a robust back-end
The future competitors and winners in support to Flipkart and ensures timely
the e-retailing space will be the ones deliveries. To achieve the economies of
which will use both bricks and clicks scale, recently e-Kart started providing
and not bricks or clicks alone. back-end support to other e-retailers.
It has consolidated the market and
This is evident from the evolving
added strengths by acquiring We Read,
logistics and storage strategy of
Mime360, Chakpak.com, Letsbuy.
Amazon in the US. Amazon has
com and Myntra along the way. The
changed its logistics network from the
company employs around 13,000
‘sell all, carry few’, model to the ‘sell
employees and plans to add 10,000 to
all, carry more’ model and increased
12,000 more in next one to three years
the number of warehouses across the
after a recent acquisition of Myntra.
US. This eventually proved beneficial
for Amazon as the increased number
of warehouses led to both better
reach and range for the suppliers and
customers which eventually resulted
in faster service delivery and increased
customer retention. Amazon is further
investing 14 billion USD in increasing
its warehouses’ base by 50 in the US.
Strictly monitored service level
agreements with 3PLs which have
developed the expertise and skills to
handle the vagaries of the customers
in the e-commerce space has proven
beneficial for e-retailers as they are
able to outsource the skills best suited
to the 3PLs. A successful example in
terms of usage of SLAs with 3PLs is
of eBay which has partnered with
couriers and allied service providers
for the logistics with closely controlled
SLAs.
8 PwC
The above requirement will only increase Similarly, for certain product categories, form of additional central fulfillment
in magnitude when operating in India. railways movement can also be explored. centers alone with an average size of
The exponential growth in e-retailing will The Indian railways is exploring various 80,000 to 1,50,000 sq ft each. This, by
also attract 3PL majors like DHL, FedEx, schemes like parcel trains and increasing itself represents an additional 6 to 12%
UPS and Gati to play a crucial role in the competitiveness of parcel loads in of all the space available in the form
the last-mile delivery. DTDC has already passenger trains. For certain commodities of organised warehousing in India and
started offering customised services to on the short haul routes, railway can almost 25 to 50% of all incremental
e-retailers under the name Dotzot. To become a predictable and low-cost addition of consumption-driven
cater to this potential explosive growth transport choice. Therefore the whole warehousing space5 in the same period.
in the absence of a ready-built industry transportation paradigm of the future may To enhance the reach further to match
structure, significant investments will evolve around a judicious mix of rail, road the growth in warehousing, additional
need to flow into creating back bone and air transport modes. sortation and delivery centers will also be
logistics infrastructure from e-commerce critical. Such additional centers with each
providers or 3PLs. Industry interactions Economic potential due to the measuring around 10,000 to 20,000 sq ft
indicate that market place operators rise of e-commerce logistics will be added. Industry estimates6 reveal
typically invest 10 to 20% of their revenue The rising growth and complexity of that the total spend on warehousing and
to build self-owned infrastructure. e-commerce categories and delivery sortation centers could be as high as 3 to
networks is expected to have a large 6% of top-line revenues, which represents
Investments in infrastructure spill-over to infrastructure and logistics an cumulative spend of over 450 to 900
and operating models of the investments which will include more million USD of spend in warehousing till
future warehouses, sortation and delivery 2017-2020. The industry is expected to
The growth in e-retailing will spawn centers and employment. Based on spend an additional 500 to 1000 million
several investments in logistics current productivity trends and growth USD in the same period on logistics
infrastructure including large fulfillment estimates, it can be estimated that over functions, leading to a cumulative spend
centers and warehouses, downstream the next three to four years, there will be of 950 to 1900 million USD till
parcel and sortation centers, focus an addition of 7.5 to15 million sq ft4 in the 2017-2020.
will be on equipping these nodes with
state-of-the-art technology and modern Warehousing requirements
warehousing practices promoting
visibility across the logistics chain. The
15
kind of infrastructure will not only
be bare bone shells but will focus on
specific handling requirements of the
commodities transacted.
As times becomes the essence of delivery,
quicker modes of transportation and
reduced transit times will increasingly
become the key demands. Currently, 770%
India operates at a very low level of air
cargo penetration characterised by only
a few airports equipped to handle large
volumes of express delivery parcels. As
the race to the market moves to the Tier 335%
2 and Tier 3 cities a day may not be far
off when there is an increasing demand 1.7
of expanding air cargo connectivity to
smaller towns through various merry-go
round aircrafts using charter airplanes
2013 2017-20 (E)
and general aviation. Airport operators
including the Airport Authority of Source: Industry experts and PwC analysis in million sq.ft
4. PwC analysis
5. Based on estimates from Knight Frank Logistics and Warehousing Report, 2013-14
6. Technopak report on E-tailing in India: Unlocking the Potential
10 PwC
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Contacts
Manish R Sharma
Mr. D.S Rawat Logistics Leader, PwC India
Secretary General Phone: +91-124-3306007
ASSOCHAM Email: manish.r.sharma@in.pwc.com
Phone: 011- 46550555
Email: d.s.rawat@assocham.com