Indian e-commerce industry is likely to clock a compounded annual growth rate of 35 per cent. Riding on the strong growth momentum of 2015, the e-commerce sector is estimated to see a 72-per cent jump in the average annual spend on online shopping per individual in 2016, from the current level of 65 per cent. Shopping malls are suffering from fewer footfalls leading to around 25 per cent vacancy rate.
There is a 30 per cent drop in rentals of malls in the past one year. This drop is observed in Indian Malls is in line with the declining number of footfalls in retail space around 200 shopping malls across the UK, US and other countries. In the US, malls are facing a 46 per cent vacancy rate whereas it stands at 32 per cent in the UK.
Online shopping has shown a handsome growth while brick-and-mortar malls are witnessing a slowdown. The growth in e-commerce looks impressive because of a low base and rising penetration of the Internet. With improvement in IT infrastructure such as logistics, broadband and Internet-ready devices, there is likely to be a significant increase in the number of consumers making purchases online. It is predicted that around 65 million consumers in India to buy online in 2015, as against around 40 million buyers in 2014.
Some 45 per cent of malls in India are expected to be converted into non-retail space in the next 15 years. There is a large possibility that they could be replaced with movie theatres, restaurants or discount retailers as per the study projected.
According to data analyzed by eMarketer, a digital-research firm retail e-commerce sales in India are expected to reach $17.5 billion (Rs 1,05,120 crore) by 2018, from $5.3 billion (Rs 31,800 crore). But only two of 10 internet users in India shop online.
