Shivam Vahia, 24, from Mumbai, India, cannot remember the last time he left home to go shopping.
Vahia spends about 30,000 rupees ($364) a month on essentials like clothes and groceries with just the tap of a few buttons on his mobile phone.
“My only offline spending is going to bars and restaurants when I meet friends,” Vahia told Reuters, adding that he is among a growing number of young, aspirational Indians whose online spending is attracting global investment firms and digital platforms to the Indian market.
India has the cheapest mobile data rates in the world , thanks to fierce competition among telecom operators and the explosive growth of social media and online commerce platforms. As a result, the number of consumers using digital services is growing at a rapid pace.
India has nearly 700 million smartphone users, according to estimates by rating agency ICRA. Each consumes an average of nearly 17GB of mobile data per month, higher than the 13GB in China and 15GB in North America. Bain & Co estimates that India’s online shopping market will reach $50 billion by 2022 with 180-190 million online shoppers, the third largest in the world after China and the US.
With personal consumption accounting for about 60% of India’s $3.5 trillion gross domestic product (GDP), foreign investors have been quick to seize the opportunity. According to data from the National Securities Depository Corporation of India, foreign investors have pumped $2.7 billion into India’s four major consumer sectors, including automobiles, consumer durables, consumer services and fast-moving consumer goods, between April 2022 and March 2023.
As personal consumption drives India's robust economic growth, not only new technology investors from abroad but also traditional consumer companies are upgrading their digital platforms to tap into customers who are inclined to spend online.
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