Ecommerce

November 2009

India Online

Executive Summary: As the world’s second-most-populous country, India is near the top of the list when it comes to sheer numbers in every category of media usage. Internet users are no exception. eMarketer estimates that there will be 49.7 million Internet users in 2009, a figure set to exceed 96 million by 2013.

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Comparative Estimates: Internet Users in India, 2008 & 2009 (millions)

2008 2009 comScore World Metrix*, January 2009 eMarketer, February 2009 32.1 38.6 40.7 49.7

Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)**, January 2009 39.8 JuxtConsult***, April 2009 35.1

Internet users in India have taken to social media very strongly. Blogging and social networks are both popular; three research firms agree that at least 60% of Internet users have visited or created profiles on social networks. Google maintains a strong lead in the space with orkut, but analysts agree that there is room for several Websites that can focus on building a strong brand and maintaining cultural relevance. As consumers become more familiar with the Internet, e-commerce has shown strong growth. According to researcher JuxtConsult, a total of 70% of Internet users went online to shop in 2009, an increase of 13 percentage points over 2008. Business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce is attracting a lot of attention from international players, as well, due to the growing needs of a booming services economy. Online advertising spending in India is rising fast, and that growth will introduce new avenues for spending as ad budgets recover from the recession.According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), online ad spending will reach $114.0 million in 2009. Many leading industry players expect India, along with other large emerging economies, to lead the way out of the global ad downturn. According to several estimates, India has the fastest-growing population of mobile phone users in the world.That pace is only expected to increase in the next few...