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The Rapid Growth of India’s Ecommerce Market
Latest update: November 2024
This article explores the current landscape of e-commerce in India, highlighting best-selling products, popular payment methods, and e-commerce volume distribution by device, among other key insights. The analysis draws on data from the Asia-Pacific E-Commerce Data Library, complemented by curated references from the PCMI team.
You can explore this content as an infographic report, available for download below.
Current State of E-commerce in India
India stands as one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the Asia-Pacific region. Despite infrastructural challenges in rural areas, the sector is on a trajectory of robust expansion.
Key e-commerce statistics for India (data from PCMI)
- Total e-commerce volume in India for 2024: US$182 billion
- Size of retail e-commerce market in India: US$83 billion
- CAGR for Indian e-commerce market, 2024–2027: 15%
- Forecasted e-commerce volume in India for 2027: US$274 billion
- Percentage of cross-border e-commerce sales: 10%
E-commerce in India accounts for 8% of the retail market in 2024, projected to reach 14% by 2028,1 reflecting steady growth in the sector. However, with only 64% of the population banked,2 financial inclusion remains a challenge.
Profile of the Indian Online Shopper
Over the past three years, 125 million new online shoppers have joined India’s e-commerce market, with an additional 80 million expected by 20253
Indian e-commerce shoppers spend an average of US$60 per basket on home and kitchen products in urban areas, compared to US$72 in non-urban regions4
Groceries lead as the most frequently purchased category in Indian e-commerce, with shoppers buying them 2.8 times per month in the rest of India on average5
One-third of online shoppers in India are Gen Z, born in or after 19976
53% of Indian shoppers are familiar with super apps, and 78% prefer them over single-category apps7
8 out of 10 e-commerce shoppers in India (81%) use smartphones or mobile devices for their purchases8
Top reasons Indian e-commerce shoppers explore international products:9
- Higher quality (40%)
- Availability of products not found in India (33%)
- Discovery of new and interesting products (31%)
India E-Commerce Payment Methods and Devices
India’s e-commerce market showcases diverse payment preferences and a significant reliance on mobile devices for online shopping. According to the PCMI’s E-commerce Data Library, the primary payment methods for e-commerce in India, by share of usage, are:
- Unified Payment Interface (UPI) – 55%
- Credit card – 25%
- Digital wallet – 7%
- Cash on delivery – 5%
- Netbanking – 3.5%
- Buy Now Pay Later – 3.2%
- Debit card – 2%
As for devices used for purchasing online, PCMI has observed that:
- 75% of e-commerce volume in India comes from purchases on mobile devices
- 25% of e-commerce volume in India comes from desktop
Top-Selling Categories and Leading Online Stores in India
Based on consumer responses (urban dwellers), the following product categories rank as the most popular among Indian online shoppers:10
- Grocery (29%)
- Fashion & Accessories (21%)
- Electronics (19%)
- Beauty & Personal Care (12%)
- Health & Wellness (8%)
As for the top online stores in India, based on traffic (data from Semrush11), the ranking is as follows:
- Amazon (454 million)
- Flipkart (202 million)
- Samsung (51 million)
- Indiamart (44 million)
- Myntra (37 million)
Key Insights into the Indian E-commerce Market
Lastly, here are some key insights about e-commerce in India:
Two-tier cities and smaller towns now account for 60% of all online orders in India, showcasing the growing reach of e-commerce beyond major urban centers12
India’s social commerce market is set to grow significantly, with a projected value of US$37 billion by 202513
Indian shoppers increasingly turn to international markets, with the United States (21%), Australia (14%), and China (11%) ranking as the top three foreign countries they purchase from14
Logistics costs in India have fallen by 6% between 2020 and 2023, enabling e-commerce businesses to expand their reach and deliver products faster than ever15
By 2024, an estimated 60 to 70 million households will move into the upper-middle-income and upper-income brackets, driving substantial growth in the e-commerce market16
Upper and upper-middle-income households are expected to generate 85% of India’s e-retail gross merchandise value (GMV) by 2028, highlighting their crucial role in the sector’s future17
Next Step:
The PCMI E-Commerce Data Library
While the data shared here can be helpful, both payments companies and ecommerce companies may benefit from a deeper dive into Indian e-commerce data, which they can obtain by acquiring the PCMI E-commerce Data Library for Asia Pacific.
The Library covers not only India but also 12 other countries in Asia Pacific, featuring e-commerce market data such as:
- Historical volume of India’s e-commerce market
- Projections of India’s e-commerce market volume for 2024-2027
- Breakdowns by merchant vertical for e-commerce in India: retail, travel, ride-hailing, digital goods and services like streaming
- Data on both cross-border and domestic e-commerce purchases in India for 2024 and projections for 2025 and beyond
- Breakdowns and projections of payment methods used in India’s e-commerce (international/domestic credit cards, Buy Now Pay Later, digital wallets, and others)
And much more.
Other key advantages make the PCMI E-commerce Data Library for Asia Pacific a uniquely powerful tool for companies that seek a fuller understanding of e-commerce in the region:
- It’s customizable to client needs: you can obtain additional data you need for your company’s specific business concerns, beyond what the Library offers
- It’s budget-friendly: while detailed reports are available for 12+ countries, you can just buy data on just 1 or save money by purchasing a country bundle
- It includes personalized guidance: every purchase of the Library entitles you to a free 1-hour consultation about the data with one of PCMI’s industry experts
- It offers unlimited sharing: there is no single-user license with the PCMI E-commerce Data Library for Asia Pacific, so you can share it freely with your organization
Keep up to date with our e-commerce, payments and crypto insights:
Sources:
- India Brand Equity Foundation ↩︎
- Reserve Bank of India, Financial Inclusion Index press release, March 2024 ↩︎
- India Brand Equity Foundation ↩︎
- How India shops online, PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2024 ↩︎
- How India shops online, PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2024. Figure reflects frequency of Indian urban dwellers; frequency was also high for people in the
rest of India at 1.92 ↩︎ - How India Shops Online 2023, Bain and Company ↩︎
- State of Ecommerce in India, New Relic, December 2023 ↩︎
- State of Ecommerce in India, New Relic, December 2023 ↩︎
- Fedex, Tapping into the Cross-Border E-Commerce in India, 2024 ↩︎
- How India shops online, PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2024. Note: Percentages reflect responses of urban dwellers in India, though shoppers in the rest of India also selected these products as their most purchased, albeit in different percentages than urban dwellers. ↩︎
- SEMRUSH, July 2024 ↩︎
- InvestIndia.gov ↩︎
- India Brand Equity Foundation ↩︎
- Fedex, Tapping into the cross-border e-commerce in India, 2024 ↩︎
- How India Shops Online 2023, Bain and Company ↩︎
- How India Shops Online 2023, Bain and Company ↩︎
- How India Shops Online 2023, Bain and Company ↩︎
