Ecommerce growth fell 26% in 2017: Forrester Research

The growth of online retail in the country has slowed drastically over the past two years from the peak of 2013-2015, with a forecast report by Forrester Research stating that the online retail growth rate fell 26.4% in 2017. The growth was down from 39% in 2016, while between 2013 and 2015, the growth rate was above 100%.

Senior forecast analyst Satish Meena said this is likely due to the impact of demonetisation and fall in customer spend. In 2017, online retail touched $19.6 billion. Including movie and event ticketing platforms such as BookMyShow, online retail touched $20.3 billion, the research agency said. Forrester did not include travel sites.

Here are a few key figures from Forrester’s Predictions 2018 India report:

Online retail value in 2017 - $20.3 billion

Total retail market in 2017 - $840 billion

Online retail share of total retail market in India – 2%

Organised retail penetration – 7%

Category-wise online retail penetration in 2017 –

Clothing – 3%

Footwear – 8.1%

Consumer Electronics – 11%

Homeware and furniture – 4.2%

Beauty and personal care – 5.5%

Grocery- 0.1%

Online growth rate % -
2010- 77%

2011 – 83%

2012 – 87%

2013 -107%

2014 – 133%

2015- 105%

2016 – 39%

2017 – 26%

Predictions – 2018 will be year of offline retail
* Expect Investment in Offline Retail by Both Online and Offline players

* Clothing and Grocery Will Lead Followed by Footwear, Cosmetics and Furniture

* Integration of Online to Offline Model