eCommerce - An Avenue for Exploration of Indian Entrepreneurs

Geography and Indian Economy

India is a beautiful country in South East Asia. There is a Himalayan range in North of India, the highest in the world, which stands between it & western countries to protect its climate f

rom western disturbances. Geographically, it is better placed than any other country to claim the richest economy of the world.

Mixed Economy

India is a mixed economy. Since, 1991, until disintegration of the Soviet Union, Indian economy was a mirror of Socialism. But disintegration of USSR has disheartened all its think tanks to avert their path from socialism to capitalism.

Capitalist Economy

Finally, open economy has been adjudged better and introduced in 1991 in India in the leadership of Sh. Manmohan Singh, the then Finance Minister. It is the strength of Indian economy that rise leaps and bounds even at the time of recession in 2009-10.

We beat the recession because we are using our products to meet with our own demands. Open economy has opened all global markets for Indian entrepreneurs to explore the avenues where they can sell or resell their products and services. An entrepreneur is always in search of a forum or market where he can sell his goods & services with ease to his customers directly without a middleman. The e-markets have given such avenues to Indian Entrepreneurs. These avenues are called as e-comm, eCommerce, e Business etc.

eCommerce websites in India

eCommerce website helped marketers to sell their products directly via online transactions. It is a business to customer (B2C) approach of e Business. The facility of Electronically Fund Transfer (EFT) has made it possible to receive payments for the offered products online and give receipts thereof to the respective customers immediately. The biggest problem in EFT is that, people of India feels more safe in using orthodox modes of payments for buying goods & services. So, now, eCommerce websites are also accepting cash (on your door facility), demand draft and cheque etc. The facility of e-ticketing is being extensively used in India and it has helped a lot in educating people about what is eCommerce.

Business to business (B2B) is another forum for all affiliated businesses dealing in raw materials to end

products. It is a typical supply chain where many transactions are possible and even volume of electronic transactions is comparatively much higher in B2B than B2C. Electronic & automobile industry is the best example of B2B eCommerce where volume & number transactions are much higher. A few of Indian industrialists have shown interest in these forums. The main problem stands between utilization of such avenues is low awareness among entrepreneurs and traders. I have described some of the barriers as under:

Barriers in eCommerce in India

1) Collection of Payment: Through poorly designed payment gateways, higher transaction charges to the tune of 3% to 4%.

2) Logistics: Safe delivery of goods to the right person in right time. Courier charges are higher for delivery goods in remote areas. Insurance for goods is affecting revenue of the business house.

3) Vendor Management System: Checking and updating prices at regular interval is the biggest problem. Servers behind the curtain are also creating problems.

4) Policies & Taxation: Different taxes at different places are also creating chaos while offering goods through eCommerce.

Read about: Payment Gateways

Payment Gateways and E-commerce in India

Payment Gateways in India

There are a few big e-payment companies in India like EBS, CC Avenue and Bill Desk etc. but the e-commerce gateway business is largely dominated by big private banks e.g. HDFC, ICICI & Citibank. With increase in e-commerce websites in India, online transactions have also increased annually by 50%  in India. Yet, Indian e-commerce softwares are far behind when compared to those meeting with International Standards. They need utmost improvement to deal with rapidly growing e-business and mobile commerce business in India. E-tailing alone is contributing 6% of its share in an e-commerce industry of Rs. 43000 crores.

Bulls and bears are fighting on streets of India to catch the honey. It is the strongest economy of the world which has not plunged even when there are clouds of recession around the world. In India, internet has become a prime media to search and sell products online. Shopping Malls have started to offer their products online to their customers. The impact of internet can be understood by this fact that even marriages are being solemnized through website services. Jobs and even marriage search engines are charging for their online premium services.

E-commerce through PayPal

It is a US based e-commerce business having its network throughout the world. It provides facilities of transferring and receiving money to its subscribers. It has around 230 million customers worldwide. Though this is available in 190 countries and regions but it is offering localised websites for only 17 countries only. Through it one can send and receive 24 currencies. It supports e-business through its unique and secured transaction system. It has started its operation in March 2000. Later, it became a fully owned subsidiary of eBay (a U.S. based Consumer to Consumer e-commerce website) in 2002.

Since regulations in India does not permit setting up of the eWallet platform, the subsidiary of eBay, has devised PaisaPay in India. PaisaPay is a partner of Bill Desk’s payment gateway and works like it; it does not charge any fee for setting up an account.

How to Set Up Pay Pal Account

There are four types of PayPal accounts like personal, premier, business & student. Anyone can subscribe for any account since Pay Pal does not charge any fee for opening an account.

One can setup his account by just signing up and feeding his information. It is mandatory for Indian subscribers to submit Pan Card and bank account details for setting up an account. They send a verification email to the subscriber. Submission of funding source – either a bank account or credit card details, with them is essential. The PayPal funds twice the registered account. The subscriber has to confirm his registered account by submitting the details of amount received in his funding source.

Once the account is verified, PayPal informs the transaction limit. Now you account is set up with Pay Pal and you can start online transactions.

Read Also: eCommerce in India