E-commerce import to grow 78 percent: Study

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SME Times News Bureau | 27 Nov, 2015
With the Indian e-commerce space experiencing "exciting times", the import from other countries is estimated to grow at 78.5 percent during 2015-16, a study said on Thursday.

According to the report on consumer research by PayPal and Ipsos, desktops account for the highest proportion of purchases at 53 percent. However, it said the future belongs to mobile as 41 percent of these purchases in the last one year were made using a smartphone or tablet.

"Our research reveals that the advent of technology is slowly diminishing borders for online shopping. With the number of online shoppers set to grow exponentially, it will lead to an increase in the numbers shoppers who shop from global retailers with online presence," Vikram Narayan, country manager and managing director of PayPal India, said in a statement.

Although cross-border trade has been predicted to grow exponentially, high customs duty and high delivery shipping costs are key deterrents.

The report said that 52 percent of online shoppers have not made purchases as cross-border state delivery shipping costs have deterred their decision, while 43 percent stated to customs and other fees as barriers.

"Other key barriers also include difficult process for returning products, having to make payments in foreign currency, return shipping costs and concerns about identity theft and fraud," it said.

'Cart abandonment' is also a key issue on cross-border shopping, where consumers abandon their online shopping carts after having chosen their products for purchase. Reasons cited include preferred payment option not available, lack of clarity about how much duty, tax, or custom fees would have to be paid and concerns about website security.