Understanding the Indian e-commerce space

The impact of social media on business has been proven. Marketers are constantly on the look-out for numbers that will help them take business decisions. This infographic from Fedelta provides us with a range of fascinating facts and statistics that perfectly illustrate the impact of social media on digital business.

Millions and millions of people share their feelings and experiences about products and services through social media, which is why brands are focusing their attention on social commerce. With 2.27 billion people online, 100,000 tweets, 684,478 pieces of Facebook content and 3,600 Instagram photos are shared every single minute – leading to an enormous amount of conversations.

As seen in the data above,

66% of the consumers prefer to make purchases from an online retailer than from a mobile app.

67% of the consumers use search engines in their product research leading up to actual purchase.

50% of the mobile searches lead to purchases – mobile shopping.

According to The Economic Times, the Indian e-commerce market is going through a huge surge of growth and according to 2012 CRISIL report, Indian online retail industry will grow from Rs 32 billion in 2012 to a projected revenue of Rs 100 billion in 2015, a compound annual growth rate of 45%-48%.

E-commerce brands like Jabong, Flipkart, Myntra, Ebay, Yebhi, Olx and Quikr provide the Indian users with a wide range of lifestyle, fashion and electronic products, at the convenience of their homes.

Brands are leveraging their social media presence by targeting young consumers, who are internet savvy, to influence purchase. The social networks most preferred by brands for this purpose are Facebook and Twitter.

There is a huge amount of expectations from these brands around their social media presence. They need to carve a niche for themselves online and create positive conversations that will lead to successful online sales.

Here are some tips on how e-commerce brands should use social media:

Share Engaging Content: The e-commerce sites that shoppers visit most frequently and spend the longest amounts of time on are the ones most enjoyable and valuable. By creating content that the consumers can participate in, they form a close relationship with the brand. Pull in consumers with fun, engaging content, questions and campaigns.

Myntra engages with the shoppers and asks for their view on its Facebook page.

Build a Relationship: Online shoppers turn to social media to express about bad experiences with e-commerce brands. Whether the conversation is a post on your brand’s own facebook page or a tweet to their own followers, its important to keep a close eye on all mentions around your brand, to effectively manage your reputation and provide amazing, real time customer service that will make your customers happy and create loyal fans.

Snapdeal is known for having great customer service. They have a specified ‘feedback’ app on their Facebook page, where shoppers can complain, praise and ask questions.