Digital commerce banking on uniform GST and tax structure to propel growth

2014 was a dramatic year for the eCommerce industry in India. The year saw mergers and acquisitions, funding from across the globe and witnessed record breaking sales with customers adopting and accepting to this mode of shopping. The Indian eCommerce industry grew at an exponential rate and 2015 seems to be even more promising. The industry is expected to reach $6 billion in 2015, a 70% increase over 2014 revenue of $3.5 billion according to Gartner, Inc.

For the entire digital commerce industry, whether it is television, mobile or on the Web, I think it is just the beginning. As an entrepreneurial venture and as an industry, we just have cracked the surface. It is impossible to even fathom how big this industry is going to be in the next ten years. The eCommerce growth will not be a mere 2% of our retail, but this could be as big as 20%--this growth won’t happen in ten years but in a much shorter time.

The immediate effect of the growth of the industry will result in employment opportunities and quite a few professionals and young guns will look at joining startups. We will also see growth of the newer categories like grocery and food gaining momentum. Also, the growth of m-commerce is already apparent, but next year will see mobile become the first screen for a large part of the population and is likely to take over web transactions. Also, for TV shopping specifically, we believe mobile will play the role of a complimentary second screen, aiding consumers in deeper discovery and wider choice besides ease of ordering.

The digital commerce industry is all about last mile delivery. So next year, I foresee logistic sector expanding and catching up with the demand and creating a mechanism to reach out to tier III & IV towns of India. Lastly, technology will continue to play an important role in the growth of this industry and Big Data will help in acquiring new customers and reaching out to them with personalized products and promotions.

Finally, we are looking forward to the upcoming budget for a Uniform GST and tax measures, which we feel are crucial to make digital commerce a success story in India. The move will simplify the tax structure and make India one common market by rationalizing the supply chain and thereby, benefiting each member of the value chain-most of all the customers.

(About the author: This article has been written by Sundeep Malhotra, Founder & CEO, HomeShop18)

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