India E-Retail Market To Grow From $150 billion to $170 billion By 2027: Report

India’s online shopping market is estimated to reach 170 billion from $150 billion by 2027, and this 25-30 per cent projected growth is predicted by the consulting firm Bain & Company in collaboration with Flipkart. The report titled ‘How India Shops Online 2022’ predicts that in the next one or two years, India will surpass the USA and will be second only to China in having the second-largest shopper base globally.

The report says that the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a very important turning point in online retail and that it has led to a 12-month acceleration in market penetration and that currently, India has the third largest shopper base.

India’s e-shoppers are estimated to increase to 400–450 million by 2027, according to the report and the massive rise in smartphone penetration, usage and affluence along with low data prices makes India a very attractive market for brands. The report predicts a change in the categories where we’ve usually seen online purchases. Fashion and general merchandise along with groceries will make the most headroom.

In 2021, approximately 40-50 million new shoppers were added to the Indian e-retail market and they mostly belonged to tier 3 and other smaller cities. There is also a rise in engagement on retail platforms and the per cent of active users (monthly) has gone up to 25 per cent in 2021, from 18 - 20 per cent in 2019. Consumers also spend 20 per cent more time on retail platforms now, versus last year.