3 Ways Women In India Are Disrupting E-Commerce

Agam Berry
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

Regular readers probably know about my Indian heritage. I’ve always felt a connection to India and graduated from Punjab University in 2010. Today, my latest venture (a digital marketing agency called Quantified Commerce) is working on a massive e-commerce initiative in India to make online shopping as ubiquitous there as it is in the United States.

Traditionally, men have been the target market for Indian e-commerce brands. However, recent trends suggest that women in e-commerce are poised the disrupt the industry in the near future. Here are three key reasons why:

1. Women Are Delaying Marriage And Focusing On Careers

One of the most important reasons that women are shopping online more is that they have more purchasing power overall. Women in India are delaying marriage (the average marriage age has increased from 18 to 22) to focus on education and career, creating a substantial female middle class for the first time in the nation’s history. My favorite statistic is that 20 percent of Indian women are now seeking post-secondary education, virtually tying them with men (22 percent).

The benefits are apparent in the market research we’ve done. Female urban Indian wage earners saw their income increase by 111 percent from 2001–2010, and a recent Nielsen study revealed that 84 percent of non-working urban Indian women have at least some influence over their household’s purchasing decisions. They may not be the ones physically tapping “buy” on a smartphone, but they are definitely over the shoulder of their husband, father, or brother who is.

2. Internet Usage In India Is Growing

India has a lot of rural areas that traditionally have limited internet access, creating a massive population of people that e-commerce really can’t reach. However, internet penetration (or the percentage of Indian citizens with internet access) is on the rise, increasing from 18 percent in 2016 to 20.26 percent in 2017.

Women in more traditional rural areas don’t have the same buying power as those in cities, but the Nielsen study above revealed that 44 percent still have some say in financial matters. As internet penetration continues to increase, these women are likely to order more products online the same way their urban counterparts do. That is millions of brand new e-commerce customers!

3. The Beauty Industry Is The Second Fastest Growing e-Commerce Industry In India

One of the most popular e-commerce categories in India is beauty and wellness products such as makeup, facial cleansers, and skin creams. Men enjoy these products too, but the industry has traditionally skewed female. Selling these products online can be challenging because there is no way to allow customers to experience what a given product really looks or smells like, but Indians (as echoed in this article) are still spending 33 percent more on them than household necessities such as food. That’s amazing!

Only 30 percent of total e-commerce transactions are completed by women in India today, but even that figure is far higher than anything imaginable five years ago. As more women gain disposable income and their own smartphones (80 percent of India’s 300 million smartphones are owned by men), their impact on e-commerce will only increase. My team at Quantified Commerce is ready to serve men and women in India by harnessing vertical integration to offer competitive price points without compromising choice or quality, a vision we bring to our operations outside of India as well.

Agam Berry

Written by

Serial Entrepreneur, and Cryptocurrency Enthusiast. Learn more at http://www.Agam-Berry.com

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