The online giant has declared the country to be the way ahead in the internet shopping ecosystem
One of the biggest online shopping companies in the world, eBay, may not yet be known as a leader in the Indian internet marketplace, but it intends to make its place through the use of mobile commerce.
The company feels it may have an advantage over local players within the smartphone marketplace.
According to eBay, it feels secure in its mobile commerce foundation and this will help to bring increased business through its platform in India. Marketing director, Alok Agarwal, and eBay India e-commerce evangelist, Deepa Thomas have both shared this opinion. They have shared their opinions about the road forward for eBay within the country.
At the moment eBay India has a large online marketplace position with more than 5 million users.
These users are from 4,306 different Indian cities. Comparatively, Facebook has 2.2 million users in India. The company has revealed that it feels that it has been a pioneer in the online marketplace and now intends to do the same for mobile commerce in India. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) has said that the online shopping industry in the country is worth approximately $800 million and that this figure is growing at a rate of 70 percent. That said, according to the company, eBay India is growing at a rate that is faster than that of the online market as a whole.
According to Agarwal, they are currently welcoming competition in the country, as it will help the mobile commerce ecosystem to expand and thrive. That said, they feel that they are true online marketplace innovators, which will help to keep eBay differentiated from the rest in a number of directions.
The latest reports from the company have said that it boasts more than 2,000 selling categories with more than 30,000 sellers. An interview with Agarwal revealed that the company feels that as mobile commerce continues to grow in the country, eBay’s growth will only accelerate, as they have already established themselves thoroughly in the smartphone and tablet channels.
Mobile commerce finds strong growth in mobile applications
Mobile applications are beginning to play a major role in mobile commerce. These applications are starting to serve as adequate replacements for NFC technology, allowing more consumers to participate in mobile commerce than ever before. Canalys, a leading market research firm, has released a new report highlighting the growth of mobile applications and the role they are beginning to play in the adoption and expansion of mobile commerce. The report suggests that mobile commerce could come to replace traditional online shopping methods in the near future.
Report highlights performance of mobile applications
According to the report, downloads of mobile applications grew by 11% in the first quarter of 2013. Approximately 13 billion apps were downloaded during that quarter. Many of these applications offered mobile commerce services or some kind of in-app purchase opportunity. Together, these applications accounted for $2.2 billion in paid downloads and in-app purchases during the first quarter, a 9% increase over the previous quarter. The report suggests that the growing popularity of mobile applications, as well as their increasing value, is largely due to the convenience these applications offer, especially in regards to mobile commerce.
Mobile everything is becoming the favored solution for consumers
More consumers are showing favor for using their mobile devices for daily activities, such as online searches, shopping, and engaging in social networks. Mobile services typically offer consumers a range of opportunities to make in-app purchase, either by unlocking additional features for an application or simply purchasing a product through that application. Canalys estimates that the growing popularity of these applications will push the download mark to over 20 billion by the end of this year and that these applications will account for $3.1 billion in revenue.
Mobile commerce still facing several challenges
Canalys notes that the mobile commerce market is still immature and is difficult to measure accurately. There are several challenges that mobile commerce faces that could put a damper on the markets promising future. The most significant of these challenges is security, which is growing more important as consumers begin to understand how much their financial information could be at risk. The continued growth of mobile commerce will also be largely dependent on the social and economic impact it will have. A negative impact will cause the support for mobile commerce to all but evaporate, while a positive impact will encourage more consumers to get involved.
