Increasing Internet penetration and growing preference for shopping online will drive the eCommerce market in India to USD 15 billion by 2016 with a whopping 100 million people going online to shop, tech giant Google said today.
Compared to 8 million in 2012, about 35 million people are now buying everything from apparel to electronics to cosmetics and furniture from online stores.
This number is expected to grow almost three times to 100 million in the next two years.
India is estimated to have 302 million Internet users by December 2014, overtaking the US as the world's second largest online userbase.
"The online shopper base will grow 3X by 2016 and over 50 million new buyers will come from tier I and II cities. The confidence to shop online is on the rise as 71 per cent non-buyers (respondents) from tier I and II cities said they plan to shop online in the next 12 months," Google India Managing Director Rajan Anandan told reporters here.
India's etailing market is at an inflection point and will see rapid growth to become a USD 15 billion market by 2016, he added.
According to analysts, the eCommerce market in India is currently estimated to be worth about USD three billion.
Of the 100 million online shoppers, about 40 million are expected to be women. Already, women buyers in tier I cities are driving growth, outspending men by 2X.
They are shopping across categories like apparel, beauty and skincare, home furnishing, baby products and jewellery.
Also, over two-thirds respondents highlighted that they preferred shopping online for convenience and variety along with discounts.
The research was conducted by Forrester Consulting across 6,859 respondents.
Over 60 per cent respondents said buying online was directly correlated with social status.
