Indian retail navigating the digital divide

The growing smartphone numbers and Internet access trends (140 million smartphones estimated to grow to 500 million by 2020, 300 million Internet users growing rapidly) indicate that ‘Digital’ has become a significant part of consumer behaviour in India, and the propensity to go digital is increasing day-by-day. E-commerce organisations have leveraged this digital wave quite significantly as evident by their growing gross merchandise volume (GMV).

So the question that arises is: how do organised retailers ride this wave rather than consider it as only a threat to their business model?

The answer lies in the consumer behaviour itself: while consumers are increasingly adopting e-commerce, a significantly large percentage of consumers continue to use a mix of physical and digital during the shopping journey. While consumers are increasingly becoming tech savvy and want the convenience of shopping anywhere anytime, they still appreciate the ‘touch and feel’ experience provided by brick and mortar retailers.
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