The initial jitters seem to have gone. Online shoppers have not only doubled their average bill value in three years, but are also shopping more frequently than before.
E-commerce sites such as Myntra, CaratLane, Indiaplaza, Buytheprice and Snapdeal.com are all reporting higher transaction bills now than in 2009.
At Myntra, the average value per transaction has gone up from Rs 700 two years ago to Rs 1,300 now. People are also buying 1.5 items per transaction compared to one per cent earlier and are buying 3-4 times a year.
Online jewellery retailer CaratLane too has seen a 50 per cent jump in bill size over last year. “Every month we get a few high-value solitaire orders online, from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh,” says Ms Kalaivani Sadagopan, Senior Vice-President.
Mr Mukesh Bansal, Founder, Myntra, attributes this to the evolution of the online retail model and the increasing comfort levels and trust of people.
Shoppers today also have a huge range to choose from. Myntra has a catalogue of over 25,000 products across 300 brands. Two years ago, it had just 500 products from 10-12 brands.
Snapdeal, which started out with just services (dining and entertainment deals), realised that for greater volume and value it needs to offer an array of products too.
The entry into products seven months ago seems to have paid off. A ticket size of Rs 500-800 then has grown to a few thousand rupees today. The frequency of buying has gone up from once in two weeks to more than once a week, says Mr Sandeep Komaravelly, Vice-President-Marketing, Snapdeal.
Online retailers are perfecting the model with convenient options such as cash-on-delivery and EMI.
Online electronics store Buytheprice experienced a 30-40 per cent jump in average bill value after introducing payment enablers such as EMI. Over 35 per cent have been repeat buyers in the last two quarters.
But Indian shoppers still have to catch up with their global counterparts. Says Ms Pearl Uppal of online discount store Fashionandyou, “Our average realisation per transaction is $30-40. But the average sale price globally among comparable discount retailers is $80-100.”