A Study of Online Shopping in India: With Special Focus on Post-Pandemic Initial Lockdown Phase

Abstract

The E-commerce industry in India has grown tremendously over the last decade. This includes a considerable growth in online shopping in India which has been accelerated by factors such as advancement of technology, availability of internet at affordable rates etc. India has the world’s largest population of youth and a report by Statistica shows that majority of India’s online shoppers are aged below 35. Online shopping saw a major boost in the post pandemic times during the phase of initial lockdown in India when there were plenty of first time online shoppers who had to resort to this method of shopping due to the restrictions imposed and other health concerns. This paper attempts to study the trend of online shopping in India, especially in the pandemic induced initial lockdown phase in India in 2020, focusing on the various segments such as consumer electronics, apparel, food and grocery and others within the online retail market in India along with their Gross Merchandise Value and preferred mode of payment. The findings reveal that all the segments witnessed a fall in the number of orders placed in March and April 2020, that is, the first two months post lockdown and then there was a huge rise in the number of orders and Gross Merchandise Value of each segment from May 2020 onwards. This study shows that the online retail market has expanded in scope with time and gained widespread popularity among customers.