Hyderabad: E-commerce has grown by 25 per cent during the Dasara festival this year compared to the Dasara and Diwali festivals last year. Experts from the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and the Federation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Indus-try (FTAPCCI) are expecting more growth by the end of this year with festivals such as Diwali, Karthika masam, Christmas and New Year fueling the buying spree.
Hyderabad has experienced more than 200 per cent growth in online shopping this Dasera compared to last year.
FTAPCCI past president Mr V. Anil Reddy said that offline shopping in the city dropped by up to 40 per cent.
“It is boom time for products online. Traders watched hour-by-hour growth in orders online. From October 1 to 11, online orders kept rising. The e-commerce sector is expecting more for the upcoming Diwali festival,” he said.
Assocham has estimated that the e-commerce business will grow by 25 per cent by the end of the year. It described online shopping as an emerged sector in Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Indore, Kolkata and Lucknow.
E-commerce websites enable consumers to save time and money and avoid traffic jams apart from having a wide selection of products to choose from.
For S. Sudha Rani from Madhapur, roaming around shops and shopping malls for a single product was a waste of time as e-commerce websites were providing the same at the click of a mouse. “I like crepe silk dresses but very few shops in the city provide them. We get crepe silk sarees, but not crepe silk dresses and dress material. I purchase them online. Moreover, some e-commerce sites provide next-day-delivery option,” she said.
For T. Krishna Mohan from Kukatpally, online shopping provides more benefits like coupon codes. “We can get discounts announced on the product as well as more discounts by using coupon codes.”
Customers beware
- Although e-commerce is saving time and money, the FTAPCCI is saying that in case of fraud, customers suffer the pain
- About 5 per cent of e-commerce customers are cheated with defective goods, frauds and other problems
- Experts tell customers to follow e-commerce sites which provide quality products on time
- As per estimates, customers spent Rs 20,000 crore on online shopping last year of which about Rs 1,000 crore spent by around 5 per cent customers was blocked. Some of them needed to approach the concerned companies for replacement or for getting back their cash. But, this process may take between a week and a month of time.
