Though the transaction volumes on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and

Snapdeal have returned to the level of pre-Covid time, high-value transactions are
expected to take place by next year.

Right now these players are burning a lot of cash to retain customers who are
spending money mainly on low-value transactions as their purchasing power has been
impacted by Covid-19, according to the analysts and industry insiders.

However, they said the pandemic is expected to help uplift India's e-commerce
market almost threefold to around $85 billion by 2024, despite other sectors being
impacted severely. Other e-commerce players which are expected to witness a rapid
increase for various services include Grofers, BigBasket and Lenskart. Presently
about 80 per cent of order volume has picked up.

�Right now people are buying a lot of low ticket items from platforms such as
Amazon and Flipkart which you would usually buy from the local market because
people don�t want to go out. That is why the order volumes have increased,� said
Satish Meena, a senior forecast analyst at Forrester Research. Customers in India
are conserving cash due to Covid-19 impact unlike other places such as the US where
there is a lot of stimulus from the government. "But we are expecting the customers
(in India) to start spending on big-ticket items (such as laptops, smartphones and
appliances) by next year,� said Meena.

According to industry insiders and analysts, the market opportunities for online
commerce in the country are expected to touch $200 billion by 2028 from $30 billion
in 2018. Presently customers are shifting from the �survival mode'' to adjusting to
the new reality of the post-Covid-19 world. They are buying affordable goods and
moving away from more expensive brands.