THE FAST & FURIOUSLY FREE
DIGITAL MARKETING ASSUMES GREATER IMPORTANCE IN INDIA TODAY
Imagine a Sunday market or shandy in India across the continent. The scene is chaotic with hundreds of buyers selling their wares. From vegetables to durable trinkets, from strange Indian medicines and concoctions that will make your head swirl. Colourful and attractive, almost seductive, and yet you are walking through without much ado. Everybody is paying obeisance to you and indeed, the world is at your feet. Now picture this scenario - with a mobile in your hands and everything you need or might need is just a few clicks away. And unlike in the past when you did not even put on whatsapp till you wanted to send a specific message (because you could not afford data), now with 1GB to 2GB free data at your disposal, you are literally blessed with a magic wand that opens up hundreds of markets for you!
That my dear friend is the new India. If you were sitting idling thinking the digital market is still raw and yet to take off in India, look again. Amazon now is sending millions of products to every nook and corner of the country. Online purchases have jumped from 40 to 90% (based on inputs from online advertisers) in less than an year since free data was introduced by JIO and followed by all other networks.
Free Data! It's like having an expressway without any tolls. More people are apt to travel on that road when they know it is free. In this case, it is not just the road, the fuel is free and there are no speed limits. With the internet speed and space that current operators are offering to consumers, there has been a boom in online spending. A part of the the success also is attributed to the demonetisation drive which forced many to switch to digital cash transactions. And voila all the forces combined to make the online markets laugh all the way to the bank.
Are you still blinking your eyes in a daze? It is not a mirage but a reality. People from rural India are ordering from Amazon, Flipcart Myntra and many others. Well some people at least. The pattern of usage, however, starkly differs across rural and urban populations. Reports says that services such as e-mails, social networking and online shopping are urban attractions while video and audio content keep the rural counterparts satiated.
More and more people are ordering online. People are no longer worried about the security threat of stolen identities. And due to pay on delivery schemes, even those without credit cards or bank accounts can order online.
Online marketing assumes gigantic proportions in India with the opening up of the internet highway with free data bundles. The future will only see so much more data available to the consumers that they will be moving on to seamless entertainment fully on their mobiles. From text to display to animated and AV, the mode of reaching out to consumers will continue to grow. Youtube will one of the biggest beneficiaries of this revolution. TV channels that are available online will also make it big.
But let us not lose sight of the fact that the online revolution is only a possibility because of the seamless blending of offline logistics - supply chain model that enables prompt delivery. It also means that online marketing companies have hired hundreds of thousands of people across India to become their stockists and delivery points.
One of the usps being used by these companies is making sure that some of the products that they sell are not available in the traditional outlets ensuring that repeat sales are a must through this specific channel. And to make it much more interesting - the size of the order is also restricted.
For those who are entering into the realm of digital marketing, it is very important to understand that while the front end is all about window dressing and bring the customer to shop, a lot depends on the back-end and this could spell success or failure for the enterprise.
However, to come back to our initial euphoria - which I still maintain is very much justified, the sky is the limit for online business.
Welcome to the brave new world of India - the parallel universe that controls the lives of millions of India.
The online market is here to stay and grow exponentially.
If you have still not gotten into your gear, its high time you did.
India is not waiting.
Imagine a Sunday market or shandy in India across the continent. The scene is chaotic with hundreds of buyers selling their wares. From vegetables to durable trinkets, from strange Indian medicines and concoctions that will make your head swirl. Colourful and attractive, almost seductive, and yet you are walking through without much ado. Everybody is paying obeisance to you and indeed, the world is at your feet. Now picture this scenario - with a mobile in your hands and everything you need or might need is just a few clicks away. And unlike in the past when you did not even put on whatsapp till you wanted to send a specific message (because you could not afford data), now with 1GB to 2GB free data at your disposal, you are literally blessed with a magic wand that opens up hundreds of markets for you!
That my dear friend is the new India. If you were sitting idling thinking the digital market is still raw and yet to take off in India, look again. Amazon now is sending millions of products to every nook and corner of the country. Online purchases have jumped from 40 to 90% (based on inputs from online advertisers) in less than an year since free data was introduced by JIO and followed by all other networks.
Free Data! It's like having an expressway without any tolls. More people are apt to travel on that road when they know it is free. In this case, it is not just the road, the fuel is free and there are no speed limits. With the internet speed and space that current operators are offering to consumers, there has been a boom in online spending. A part of the the success also is attributed to the demonetisation drive which forced many to switch to digital cash transactions. And voila all the forces combined to make the online markets laugh all the way to the bank.
Are you still blinking your eyes in a daze? It is not a mirage but a reality. People from rural India are ordering from Amazon, Flipcart Myntra and many others. Well some people at least. The pattern of usage, however, starkly differs across rural and urban populations. Reports says that services such as e-mails, social networking and online shopping are urban attractions while video and audio content keep the rural counterparts satiated.
More and more people are ordering online. People are no longer worried about the security threat of stolen identities. And due to pay on delivery schemes, even those without credit cards or bank accounts can order online.
Online marketing assumes gigantic proportions in India with the opening up of the internet highway with free data bundles. The future will only see so much more data available to the consumers that they will be moving on to seamless entertainment fully on their mobiles. From text to display to animated and AV, the mode of reaching out to consumers will continue to grow. Youtube will one of the biggest beneficiaries of this revolution. TV channels that are available online will also make it big.
But let us not lose sight of the fact that the online revolution is only a possibility because of the seamless blending of offline logistics - supply chain model that enables prompt delivery. It also means that online marketing companies have hired hundreds of thousands of people across India to become their stockists and delivery points.
One of the usps being used by these companies is making sure that some of the products that they sell are not available in the traditional outlets ensuring that repeat sales are a must through this specific channel. And to make it much more interesting - the size of the order is also restricted.
For those who are entering into the realm of digital marketing, it is very important to understand that while the front end is all about window dressing and bring the customer to shop, a lot depends on the back-end and this could spell success or failure for the enterprise.
However, to come back to our initial euphoria - which I still maintain is very much justified, the sky is the limit for online business.
Welcome to the brave new world of India - the parallel universe that controls the lives of millions of India.
The online market is here to stay and grow exponentially.
If you have still not gotten into your gear, its high time you did.
India is not waiting.
Comments
Post a Comment