What was limited to books, gadgets and few accessories in the earlier years, now expanded to include apparel, kitchen items, consumer durables, high-end jewellery, furniture, or any other product you can think of buying over the internet.
The big breakthrough in e-commerce came in October when the big three of Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal went into an overdrive to win customers and offered pre-Diwali sales with eye-popping discounts.
Gadgets like smartphones, tablets, laptops, computer peripherals, consumer electronics, etc were sold way below their market price.
Snapdeal also pegged its sales figure to a similar amount while Amazon didn't disclose figures.
In the past many used to research online about products and then buy it from a shop. Now the trend reversed as people walked into shopping malls to try which colour and size of clothes or shoes suit them best and then went home to get a good deal online.
To retain his customer base, a computer hardware seller in the small Howrah town of West Bengal put up this board outside his shop: "Why buy online? We will offer you a lower price".
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