Value E-Commerce: A $40 Billion Opportunity

As India’s retail industry evolves, a growing number of value-conscious online shoppers are reshaping India’s e-commerce landscape. Currently valued at US$4 billion, value e-commerce is expected to grow rapidly to reach US$20 billion by 2026 and US$40 billion by 2030, marking a 10X growth in 10 years.

From a consumer’s perspective, ‘value’ means finding affordable products while also getting acceptable quality, durability and trendiness. The typical Indian consumer has always been value conscious, and much of overall demand is for affordable, smallerticket items. Global consulting firm Kearney, through its report titled ‘Value e-commerce: The Next Big Leap in India’s Retail Market’, outlines a US$40 billion market opportunity that is shaping up as India’s value-conscious buyers go online. The report states that “Value e-commerce will emerge as the biggest growth opportunity within lifestyle retail with 10X growth in 10 years.”

The Value Lifestyle Segment

The lifestyle retail market is divided into six price tiers. The bottom three — mass, economy, and masstige — are the value lifestyle segment, and the top three are the premium lifestyle segment. Currently, about 70 per cent of lifestyle retail demand comes from the value lifestyle segment, which is dominated by unorganised general trade (nearly 80 per cent share). Modern trade accounts for 16 per cent, and e-commerce has a low penetration at 4 per cent. In contrast, the premium lifestyle retail has a much higher share of modern brick-and-mortar stores (40 to 45 per cent) with 10 per cent e-commerce penetration as of 2019. While multiple global and Indian brands and retailers with a presence in India’s top 100 cities bring the trendiest products to these consumers, those consumers in the rest of India also aspire to get similar trendy products, but at much lower prices.