Mobile-first behaviour and a surge of new consumer brands will propel India’s digital consumer market to surpass US $ 1 trillion in only ten years, says a report by Bessemer Venture Partners, an American venture capital and private equity firm.
Rising smartphone penetration, inexpensive mobile data, and easy payments have produced a “triple engine” of commerce, content, and consumer discernment, according to the Click, Shop, Repeat research, which places India among the world’s most dynamic digital economies.
According to Anant Vidur Puri, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners and one of the report’s authors, this will surpass the trillion-dollar threshold even if it grows at the naive rate of 20% annually. Consumer expectations have increased, access to items is much easier, and the amount of time spent on the phone is just increasing. According to him, going to the movies and shopping at the mall has evolved into a mobile-first experience.
With about 800 million smartphone users spending nearly eight hours a day online, the report emphasised how the widespread usage of mobile internet is changing brand development and commerce. Digital platforms have developed into virtual stores that allow smaller, niche consumer businesses to achieve national popularity fairly immediately, according to the research.
“The new consumer is searching for you, and platforms will come and get you if you can be a new disruptor, a new trend, or something different in the market. Today, a brand may virtually do nothing to get featured on 20 sites. It’s a great time to build a brand because that has changed in the last ten years,” Puri remarked.
The research also emphasised how important customer retention is becoming and how it affects long-term growth.
Even while a brand might grow quickly, it must eventually stand the test of time. The most crucial factor is retention, which also lowers marketing working capital, boosts EBITDA, decreases cash burn, and alters the time to revenue predictability. Customer retention is the issue that needs to be resolved, Puri continued.
According to Bessemer’s research, the digital consumer market in India is divided into numerous segments, therefore new firms must be careful with their pricing and positioning.
What one individual finds affordable may not be the same for another. According to Puri, at any price range, some consumers will view a brand’s product as “cheap,” while others would view it as “expensive.”
With an estimated 600 million Indians born after 2001, the country’s consumer trend is being influenced by a generation that is accustomed to using digital payments and mobile commerce.
The report claims that this development puts India in a position to catch up to countries like China, where nearly 15% of the whole GDP is made up of digital commerce, indicating a wide window for expansion.
