Online To Offline: Pure Play E-Commerce Firms Go Physical To Woo Consumers

- Sandeep Kumar, Charu Lamba & Surabhi Khosla

In the late 90s and early 2000s, the retail industry was all gung ho about going online. Retailers wanted to get connected, design and run innovative e-commerce portals. The idea of selling the product online and delivering it in no time was being considered as a decisive move in-order to succeed. Retailers realised that hopping onto the ‘e-commerce superhighway’ was the future. Everyone hoped to become the next amazon in their chosen fields.

Cut to today and India came into 2017 on the heels of demonetisation. A country that by and large depended on cash was forced to go online. And even as the digital payments space exploded, the business of e-commerce in the Indian sub-continent received its biggest boost ever. E-tailers grew significantly to tap the burgeoning online audience through offers and innovations including easy accessibility and affordability.

In India, Flipkart is at the top of the online game with the highest top-of mind recall among consumers, Amazon has been closing the gap fast, and both companies are preparing to go to war with Alibaba, which is all set to tap the serious potential of the Indian market.

With so much happening in the online space, it comes as a surprise winds of change are breezing through the retail industry, pushing retailers towards physical stores. While international online giants such as amazon, Warby Parker, Zappos and Bonobos have been opening stores for some time now, the shift towards physical has become more noticeable over the last few years – in the world and in India.

The Indian Scenario

While the Internet may have penetrated the heart of India, the hearts of Indians (and their trust) still lies with the physical retailer. In fact, a recent AT Kearney Study