Interaction with Google and one of the largest Indian ecommerce players in India suggest that leading online retailers have reduced discounts, largely on mobiles and tablets, from 4QFY16. Also, inefficiencies in the ecommerce system, such as excessive hiring, are now coming to the fore. High fulfilment costs (Rs150-200 per order) driven by product returns remain a challenge. Therefore, top line growth of most ecommerce players barring Amazon India have slowed down. While this is positive for most offline retailers, footwear continues to be disrupted because of the advantages of range, lower distribution costs and scale that online retailers command in the category.
Meanwhile, the TATA group is poised to launch its brand-centric ecommerce marketplace on 27th May with Trent as an anchor (without backend investments and customer acquisition costs). Ecommerce could boost Trent's topline, which has been unaffected by ecommerce, and its operating margins.
