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Current Issues in Management
Many companies are starting to monitor and manage key indicators. Substantial evidences prove that
addressing such issues can directly cut cost and save money. As such, these can evaluate the application of
management theory and how company are putting those in practices specifically those that can have impact on
the companys reputation.
1) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
The corporate social responsibility concerns the social environment and a changed social contract. Many
argued that organizations must consider the societal impact of their decisions and actions. Furthermore, the
organizations must act to protect and improve the welfare of the general public. The organizations must aim not
only on organizational effectiveness but on existence to address the needs of society (, 2003, ).
According to (1985), the social contract follows the obligation between the organization and the
individuals, groups and other organizations, government and the society as a whole. These are set of written and
unwritten rules and assumptions in a corporate manner. Such obligations discuss behaviour patterns among
various elements of society.
The obligation to individual includes equitable wages, salaries and remuneration packages and suitable
working conditions. In return of these obligations, the duties and responsibilities must be carried-out by the
employees. The obligations to groups and other organizations require the company to compete within acceptable
means. In effect, the competition must be carried-out with respect to mutual rights and obligations of trading
partners and other businesses and companies. The most notable feature of governmental obligations of
organizations is the existence of mutually beneficial exchange evident through tax payments and implementation
of health and safety standards. Societal obligations deals with law-abiding activities of the organization like the
consumer group (, 1985, ).
The underlying issues, however, are the changing values of government, business, education, religion,
work force and society. Over the past 50 years, the government tended to get more powerful, more oppressive
and more righteous. Many social ills are needed to be rectified and be improved upon. Businesses do have
responsibility to society and likewise the society has some responsibilities to the corporate world. These
obligations include: setting clear and consistent rules, keeping economically- and technically-feasible rules,
making proactive rules and striving at goal-setting rules (as cited in ., 1989, ).
If the government will honestly implement and adhered to by the government and industries, there might
be a possibility of a much effective relationsh ip. As to all of this are considerable talk and lip service, the
cooperation between business and government will be a big challenge.
The continuous foreign and domestic takeovers, imbalance between export and import, the high value of
dollar and inflation changes the pace of the business sector and it affects the consumer behaviour and the
society. However, it can be minimize through involvement of the worker-business to hep increase productivity.
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The knowledge in history, geography classics and government are poorly integrated in the educational
systems. Aside from this, other areas such as morals, social concepts and values and how business works
reached the bottom level in recent years. Some universities and educational institutions are somewhat neglecting
their purpose of educating the minds of the people.
Through judicial rulings, the work ethic and ethical-moral standards are not prospering under religious
principles. The government are not realizing the impact of this on business and societal processes.
Labor will be more demanding upon management in the future without a large influx and unless industry
is able to expand rapidly, said . (1989, ). He relates that the rapid growth of the 20-44-year-od age groups and
the small growth of the population in the 1-9-year-old bracket will create serious managerial problems 10 to 20
years.
The stakeholders demand on businesses to grant their desires more than what they really need and
deserve perceives the societys need and demands from the business sector. Immediate changes over a
relatively short period will do no good to the company and eventually to the society (., 1989).
2) Business Ethics
Some major corporation faced scandals and unethical acts which lead to public distrust in one time or
another. The word ethicsmeans character or customs. As such, the organizations codes and by-laws must
convey moral integrity and values in serving the public to avoid misgivings and scepticism. However, other
organizations are concern with the greater specificity, usefulness and consistency of ethics (, 2003, ).
Ethical behaviour deals with the morally-acceptable and commonly-held values which are consistent to
personal perception of values. In an organization, many would question the rightfulness of different acts such as:
Is it ethical to do personal business on company time? Is it unethical to ask someone to do a certain job that
might not be good for their career progress? (, 2003).
Thus, we can define business ethics as perception of right or wrong in the behaviour and practices of the
business. It is divided into two as normative business ethics and descriptive business ethics. A growing
misconception is the difference of the two.
In business context and practices, the normative business ethics deal with establishing ethical from
unethical. It concerns with what ought to be and what ought not to be. Descriptive business ethics, in contrast,
is the comparison and contrasts of different moral codes, systems, beliefs, practices and values. It is learning
about real occurrences in business organizations, managers, and specific industries regarding behaviour,
actions, decisions, policies and practices (, 2003).
The distinction between the two perspectives must be clarified once and for all. So that the prevalence of
a particular practice of a certain organization that is perceived to be true and acceptable by other organizations
wont be justified rather be corrected. Aside from this, questionable deeds of organizations will be addressed on
individual, organizational, industry, societal and international levels (, 2003, ).
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Another management challenge is the teachability of business ethics and the learnability of the
employees in accordance with their personal perception and values regarding business ethics. According to ,
business institutions cannot taught students something as fundamental as moral principles and ethical values as
a kind of professional add-ons (2006). What is the sense of putting ethical components on standard curriculum?
What is the theoretical extent in comparison to business reality of such teachings would be?
The impact of such observation points toward the relative interconnection between business schools,
business theories and business realities. The ability to impart morality and inculcate virtue to future mangers is
their job. In reality, business ethics is viewed by many, including and ten , as sentimental common sense or a
set of excuses for being unpleasant, at best window dressing and at worst a calculated lie (as cited in , 2006).
In s point of view, business ethics can be taught and learned, but the choice on what they ought to do
(2007) lies in the hands of the company and employees. There is an urgent need of a workplace revival and
education and training in ethics and professionalism is the key.
The CEO and the senior management must consider the ethical dilemmas in the workplace. A well-written
and well-communicated acceptable code can help but it is impossible to regulate non-existence of unethical
behaviour. The bottom line is there is no legal requirement to behave ethically (, 2007). The challenge herein is
the approach to disseminate the information about codes and to avoid concentration in a certain management
level. It must be from top to bottom. If not, the result would be clogging on continuous professional development,
an open workplace culture and a clear and explicit code (, 2007).
3) Corporate Governance
The concepts of firm and the interests it govern contribute to the understanding of the issues faced by the
corporate governance. Since the term governance implies the exercise of authority, corporate governance, then,
is the study of the allocation and exercise of such authority (, 2004).
The challenge, by and large, is the extent of authority-intervention on managerial matters and how it can
affect the prevalent activities of firms and organizations. Another issue to deal with is the dispersed structure of
organizational ownership (, 2004).
The separation of the equity holder and the management creates problems, according to Blair, such as:
1) the management efficiency means having enough courage to take risks, make strategic decisions and take
advantage of investment opportunities and the management cannot submit every decision to shareholders
affirmation; 2) the control-rights of shareholders with large total of shares has a power that must be restrained; 3)
the commitment of time and resources of investors in monitoring the affairs of the organization; and 4) the
reliability and accuracy of information-needs by the investors/shareholders (as cited in , 2004, ).
The power and position of both parties must be guarded to avoid abuse and taking unfair advantages
over one another. The primary goal of the organization as a whole is somewhat overlooked the more as the
location of authority is becoming more blurry.
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procedures. , , and argue that the effectiveness of such process is poorly carried-out. When, the employees
realized that they really have little real influence on the organization, the employee will start to feel indifferent.
Since the organizations are purely hierarchical and the principles are centralized, the process appears as an
instrument for manipulating the employee opinion (1998, ).
If this is the case, the management must struggle at inculcating the sense of involvement among
employees in decision-making. Another area of concern is the motivation scheme and its significant benefits
directly to the employees of the organization.
Some organizations thrive at grouping of employees who meet regularly to tackle improvements within
the workforce of a certain organization (, , and , 1998, ). The idea is the how effective a small group in voicing
their concern regarding the work and their environment. Another thing to consider is the reflection of opinion of
the group compared to the whole work force. Such issues regarding the quality work of life and quality circles
may appear to be very broad but still they are waiting for recognition and immediate solutions.
5) Workforce Treatment and Workforce Discrimination
The work treatment and the work discrimination per se have three dimensions: the formal vs. informal,
potential vs. encountered and the perceived vs. real. These dimensions transcends across all status, race,
gender, and etc.
describes work discrimination as unfair and negative treatment of workers or job applicants based on
personal attributes that are irrelevant to job performance (2001). The nature of work is very multifaceted as it can
be experienced in pre- during and post-levels of work.
The framework of formal discrimination is based on institutional policies and decisions regarding hiring,
firing promotion, salary deductions and job assignments. In contrast, the informal discrimination deals with
interpersonal dynamics and work atmosphere such as verbal and non-verbal harassments, lack of respect,
hostility and prejudice ( and , 1984).
The second dimension involves the potential and encountered discriminations. The former deals with
actual discrimination in sexual orientation disclosures, for example. The latter refers to encountered
discriminatory practices. However, the distinction between the two is subjectivity and objectivity viewed from
neutral terms (, 2001).
The third dimension is derived from the concept occupational opportunity structures of (1980): the ideal,
real and perceived discriminations. In ideal, there is no discrimination. The comparison between perceived and
real discriminations varies from perception of individuals. The neutral situation may be interpreted and
misinterpreted as a discriminatory practice where in fact, the situation is just a result of
misconception/misperception.
6)Transparency
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Generally, transparency is critical in corporate accounting and statements. The companies must practice
publicizing in order to gain and regain the confidence of shareholders and consumers in all aspects of business.
The benefit of the people around and within the company is the avoidance of misleading informations and false
announcements (, 2001).
The management, as policymakers, must clearly provide the people truthfulness regarding their
operations and activities. In effect, the credibility of the corporate governance will be respected by the employees
and the consumers.
The continuum of economic growth includes a transparent corporate governance structure. The
interaction, without this, can lead to financial deficiency. In this regard, the financial transparency and the
corporate governance system are the key factors to encourage investors and to create a sustainable business (,
2007).
According to (2005), transparency scares business. The switch to a more open accounting can be
daunting said , vice-president of Delta Private Equity Partners. The management struggles at the significant cost
in paying consultations regarding elimination of shady schemes. The profits will be cut and may erode business
competitiveness. Not all entrepreneurs, in addition, are interested in legalizing their financials.
FDI in Retail: What it entails?
More than two decades after the first wave of reforms were introduced in the year1991; the
countrys socio-economic health has by no means become better. In the midst of these galloping
problems, the announcement by the UPA government about FDI in multi brand retail comes notas a relief but as a matter to be given a serious thought. The debate so far is threefold: (a) one
section which is drooling over the reforms and projecting huge surge of investment in
infrastructure and thereby increment in the employment levels. (b) The second group is the one
which is sceptical about the opening of markets for foreign retail giants like Walmart,Carrefour,
Kmart etc. not because they fear that it would affect the overall development of the economy.
Rather, this group fears competition from the big foreign companies which have deep pockets to
procure products from the world market. Thus, it would affect their profits by a huge margin. (c)
The third group comprises of the unorganized retail sector which fears its elimination from the
market in the long run.
Various claims made by UPA seem to fall flat on any reason if we take into consideration theoutcomes of previous reforms. Employment in formal sector has not increased by any count since
1991, informalization of labour in the formal sector is a clear indication of this fact. Productivity
in agriculture, where almost 54 per cent of the population is dependent has declined. It is no
longer a profitable venture as the input costs have gone up in the post green revolution phase.
Rise in the phenomena of rural to urban migration, rural non-farm employment, farmer suicides,
show what precarious condition agriculture has landed into. Gradual shift of the economy from
agriculture to industry, as expected in the prospects of reforms, has proven to be a fallacy.
Instead, the existing industries have become more capital intensive leading to the displacement
of labour on a mass scale. Trade liberalisation has given the global players a free hand to rein the
economy. As a consequence rate of inflation is rising unchecked as the price of crude oil is
fluctuating globally. These examples showcase that reforms and liberal policies have not led tothe overall development of the economy.
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In the light of the above observations, announcement of FDI in multi brand retail does not give
much hope. The Indian retail sector is not only very vast but also varied in its composition. The
huge population of the country, the rise of the middle class and its purchasing power and a huge
market for foreign investment in India are factors that have invoked the interest of the foreign
investors. But, it becomes imperative to see what this FDI would entail for the retail sector when
it is analyzed by keeping the informal economy at the centre of the debate.
When only 4 percent of the retail trade in India comes under the organized retail it becomes
essential to evaluate or assess the viability of FDI taking into consideration not this 4 percent but
the 96 percent which belongs to the unorganized retail sector. The unorganized retail sector is
not a homogeneous category, it comprises of peddlers, street vendors, kiosks, push-cart vendors,
weekly traders. It is not unknown that the majority of those engaged in retailing at the lower end
of the economy depend on the small and medium enterprises for their supplies. It has been
reiterated time and again, by many economists, how and under what conditions the unorganized
sector has risen to such heights in India and other developing countries via the route of the neo-
liberal regime. Indian retail market is quite diverse in terms of scale, culture and structure. Some
reasons for this diversity can be attributed to the divide that exists between rural and urbanIndia. Traditional forms of marketing (neighbourhood markets, mandis, and periodic/weekly
markets) coexist with modern day markets (supermarkets, hypermarkets, Single brand outlets
etc.). Decline of the rural economy coupled with lack of employment in the manufacturing sector
(organized sector) created a vast pool of surplus labour in the country in the post reform period.
This multitude of labour started migrating to urban centres in search of employment and many of
them landed up with self employment in the service sector of which retailing forms a huge part.
Annihilation of small scale and self employed lower middle class will lead to large scale poverty
and destitution because the unorganised sector is absorbing the shocks of migration and rural
distress. It manages by catering to middle classes in the metropolis. If this market is gone, they
will all be unemployed.
On the one hand the government is trying to convince that FDI would not harm the local trading
practices and on the other hand various traders associations, vendors are fearing its exit from the
retail market in the long run when various multi brand retail giants with their deep pockets and
marketing skills would create direct contacts with farmers and producers of essential
commodities. Whether its a small vendor selling fruits on his bicycle or a trader who has a kiosk
in a neighbourhood where he sells grocery or a weekly market trader who sells garments, all three
of them depend on a vegetable mandi, grain mandi and wholesale market for garments
respectively. With the entry of the multi-brand retail giants in the market two possibilities
emerge (a) these retail giants are expected to procure 30 percent of goods from medium scale
enterprises (but it is not necessary that these enterprises should be from the host country) thus,
in case it decides to capture the domestic market it would create direct contact with small andmedium enterprises and get commodities at the lowest possible cost and take benefit of the
economies of scale. In case this happens, then the retail giants would slowly gain hands and
monopolize the market and dictate the prices of essential commodities in the domestic market.
This would slowly displace small vendors who dont have enough working capital to compete with
retail giants. These vendors who till now were able to purchase goods from the wholesale market
by proving their credit worthiness would no longer be able to give cash and carry goods to the
retail market.
(b) Since multi brand retail stores have the liberty to buy products from anywhere in the world
and they have enough resources to conduct market research, it would explore the world market
and invest wherever they would be able to maximize their profits through final sale. In thisscenario, small vendors and traders would continue to have access to the products which are
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produced by the small scale industries but at the same time these enterprises would face severe
competition from cheap commodities imported from elsewhere. In the long run it is speculated
that the prices of their commodities would fall in the markets and sooner or later these domestic
small enterprises would be forced to quit. For example, T. Vellayan, president of the Tamil Nadu
Federation of Traders Associations gives the example of how the import of palm oil and
soyabean oil for edible purposes proved ineffectual to the oil manufacturing units. Vellore,Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore and Villupuram districts had several stone oil presses. But these
traditional oil mills closed down. In Pudukottai district, oil mill premises have been converted
into marriage halls (Frontline, Dec.2011).
Another justification given by the government for allowing FDI is that it would stabilize the
inflationary trends that the Indian economy is witnessing for the past two years. This logic seems
to be a wishful thinking because rising inflation cannot be controlled by the multi brand retail
giants instead the prices of food grains, fruits and vegetables and essential commodities would
only increase once these retail outfits will make a market for their products in India. Price of
diesel and petrol has been exponentially hiked up; this is going to affect the cost of production
both in agriculture and manufacturing. Farmers are not going to benefit in any way as they wouldcontinue to be exploited by the multi brand retail giants in the long run. If in this context we see
the large unorganized retail sector, we can observe how small vendors of fruits and vegetables are
able contain the inflationary pressure by offering lower prices.
One round of a weekly market in the neighbourhood of Delhi or elsewhere would show that the
margins between the prices at which weekly traders sell their products and the price at which any
supermarket sells the same thing varies by more than 20 to 30 percent. Multi brand retail giants
would not only affect the price of food grains at the national level but it might also result in the
disappearance of Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees which keep a certain minimum
check on the price of the foodgrains coming to the grain markets. Thus, corporate capital would
get a free reign in the indigenous markets of India and the process of primitive accumulationwould set in as predicted by C.P. Chandrashekhar, Prabhat Patnaik et. al. This would have direct
impact on that section of the unorganized retail sector which is employed in the lowest level of
the market hierarchy who do not have ready cash to invest and whose livelihood is dependent on
the recycling of debt for a day, a week, a month or a year because the prices are going to rise in
the long run and so will the interests on the borrowed sum.
The adverse impact of the FDI would befall the unorganized retail sector with great intensity if
the State makes more stringent rules of zoning and regulation. I have been researching the local
weekly markets of Delhi for the past three years. These markets are very prominent feature in all
parts of Delhi and NCR. There are around twelve hundred weekly markets of which only one
fourth are recognized by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (consequence of zoning).Approximately 2.5 million people are employed through these markets. This figure would just
double if we take in to account additional employment that is created around these markets.
Various own account and household enterprises are producing commodities on a daily basis for
such low end markets. Local weekly markets provide a very easy channel of distribution of
commodities produced not only in local small scale industries but also in the neighbouring
States. For instance, rubber chappals and shoes made in Agra, sarees made in Surat, hosiery
made in Coimbatore, woollens made in Ludhiana are all sold at affordable prices here in these
very markets. FDI in multi brand retail would either displace various wholesale markets or the
size of such markets would shrink. Today the local markets run on capital which has a fluid or
floating nature. But with the coming of multi brand retail stores this floating capital would freeze
and small retailers and vendors will be evicted from the market.
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It is argued by the government that FDI in retail would create employment opportunities. But
employment for whom is the crucial question? It would create employment for those who are
educated and have professional experience. Taking cue from my observation in the weekly
markets of Delhi I would argue that majority of those now employed in these markets have
minimal education and have no professional degrees apart from their marketing knowledge. Now
if FDI in multi brand retail comes, it is not in any way going to benefit these traders if they losetheir sole means of survival.
I have observed in the course of my research that through weekly markets of Delhi hundreds of
people have employed themselves who were displaced for one reason or the other. At the same
time it has created a distinct market for lower middle class who would not go to a super market or
a mall for shopping. Where will this section of population shop for daily needs with the entry of
multi brand retail outlets in case it leads to the displacement of weekly markets?
Instead of providing infrastructural facilities the State already keeps street vending, peddling and
weekly markets at the helm by keeping them in that buffer zone where it is difficult to recognize
their real viabilility for the economy at large. Often these are characterized as unlawful, black, orhidden activity.
It is my contention that in order to make way for the private capital the State might evict street
vendors, cancel their licenses, or remove tehbazaari rights for weekly markets in the times to
come. Just as in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and other metropolitan cities, the State, has from
time to time uprooted slums and relocated them to the periphery of the city, to make way for the
investment by private corporate builders in order to make the city slum free. Similar decisions if
taken for the unorganized retail sector would gravely increase inequality and poverty.
Putting people on the mapLast week, the Survey of India (SOI), the mapping arm of the government, filed a police
complaint against GooglesMapathon the first ever mapping competition in India. It alleged
that Google, which had invited Indian participants to add their local knowledge to existing maps,
is likely to jeopardise national security interest and violate the National Map Policy. It also
threatened participants with potential breach of rules. In response, Google has stood its ground
and said its activities are well within the rules.
At the heart of this conflict are not legal issues as the SOI makes it out to be, but the shrinking
role of the state in disseminating geographical information. Technologies have broken
government monopoly over spatial data and are empowering communities to produce maps that
are relevant to them. Bewildered government institutions, instead of embracing innovation and
quickly adjusting to changes, are seeking the coercive power of rules to maintain dominance and
stifle innovation.
For more than two centuries, the SOI has been surveying the country and producing
topographical and special maps of different scales. Of the two kinds of maps it publishes, Defence
Series and Open Series Maps, the second are declared as unrestricted by the Ministry of Defence.
These are the maps that can be sold to the public. Third parties can reprint and add value to
them, but only after signing an agreement and abiding by the condition set by the SOI. However,
maps of coastal areas, the region around national boundaries and of Jammu & Kashmir State are
out of bounds.
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Private enterprise
These restrictions are inconsequential. Private companies sell satellite images and maps of
Indian territories for a fee. For example,RapidEye, a private company based in Germany, offers
high resolution images of three billion square kilometres of earth area including images of the
western boundary of Jammu and Kashmir. Similarly,MapMart, the e-commerce division ofIntraSearch, Inc. a U.S.-based concern, offers images, elevation model, digital vector maps and
topographical maps of territories in India and other countries. Technology, as two geographers,
Jeremy W. Crampton and John Krygier insightfully noted, is pushing cartography out of the
control of powerful elites. Maps worldwide are accessible as never before.
Probably, anticipating such a situation, in 2005, the Indian National Map Policy envisioned that
the SOI would take a leadership role in liberalising access to spatial data. To promote this, the
national policy recommended exploration of partnerships with all sections of people and work
towards a knowledge-based society. But nothing much has changed. We are yet to witness
collaborative efforts in the scale and manner needed.
On the contrary, Google Maps and Google Earth, launched in the same year as the National Map
Policy, have taken advantage of technological solutions and allowed users to freely populate maps
with information relevant to them. As a result, they have leapfrogged to become the favourite and
frequently consulted map services. The problem is that Indian institutions still hold on to
antiquated views of maps as instruments of governmental-ity. Hence, they contain only
information that is relevant to what the state needs for administration, security and surveillance.
Everyday spaces and resources closely connected with active users have hardly been the concern.
Counter-mapping
Counter-mapping, a practice and term made popular by Nancy Lee Peluso, a political ecologist,
has challenged such state dominance and indifference. For more than a decade, it has
empowered communities to produce alternative maps that document local assets and enabled
them to make rightful claims. From Indonesia to Nicaragua, these counter-maps groups have
challenged exploitation, exclusion, and demanded democratic resource allocation. Closer home,
Transparent Chennai, a project initiated by the Institute for Financial Management and Research
and partly funded by Googles Inform and Empower initiative, helps Chennai citizens counter
inaccurate government data. By collecting information such as location of public toilets and
mapping them, local communities evaluate government performance and demand better
services.
Privacy issues
Not everything is benign about mapping practices offered by Google. Commercial exploitation of
data, invasion of privacy and illegal scooping of personal information in Google projects such as
Street View are unsettling. Oliver Burkeman, writing in The Sydney Morning Heraldon the dark
side of digital mapping, remarked that Googles and Apples maps might not just observe our
lives, but in some sense come to play a role in directing their course. They track use patterns,
manipulate data and produce maps that stealthily serve commercial interests. Burkeman wittily
observed that our search for the quickest route between two points in such map services may
throw a result that passes through at least one Starbucks shop.
http://www.rapideye.com/http://www.rapideye.com/http://www.rapideye.com/http://www.mapmart.com/http://www.mapmart.com/http://www.mapmart.com/http://www.mapmart.com/http://www.rapideye.com/ -
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One of the models worth looking at is New Yorks open data policy and the related BigApps
project. The city has made it mandatory for government agencies to disclose data to improve
transparency and governance. Since 2009, New York has been conducting competitions, which
encourage people to use these data and create useful applications. Digital map applications are
frequently among the prize winning ones. For example, last years prize winning entry,596 Acres,
is an online map application that helps communities find vacant public land and put it tocommon use.
Unfettered use of data and free mapping possibilities alone have the potential to check predatory
practices and state monopoly.
E-commerce in India Present and Future
Today, the market place is flooded with several e-commerce options for shoppers to
choose from. A variety of innovative products and services are being offered spoiling
customers for choice. Online shopping is no more a privilege enjoyed by your friends
and family living in the US or UK. Today, it is a reality in India. In the last couple of
years, the growth of e-commerce industry in India has been phenomenal as more
shoppers have started discovering the benefits of using this platform. There is
enough scope for online businesses in the future if they understand the Indian
shoppers psyche and cater to their needs.
Changing the game
Indian e-commerce industry has evolved over a period of time with innovations that
have changed the rules of the game globally. Cash on delivery (COD) is one such
example. In a country where credit card penetration is much lower than other
developed markets and where e-commerce companies are still working hard to build
trust among shoppers, introducing cash on delivery has been one of the key factors
for the success of the segment. At present, COD is the preferred payment mode for
close to 55-60% of all online transactions in the fashion and lifestyle segment in
India.
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COD is here to stay owing to its convenience and its cultural affinity and will be a
major part of payment mechanisms for at least the next four to five years. Executing
COD efficiently and painlessly for the customer is critical to the success of any e-
commerce player in the country.
Delivering experiences
Besides COD, e-commerce players need to focus on customer experience as a
means to build trust and confidence. Customer experience encompasses every
interaction a customer has with your service from placing an order to interacting with
your customer service team, to the actual delivery experience.
Providing a great delivery experience is one of the core aspects to delighting
customers. This doesnt necessarily mean constantly pushing the frontier on faster
deliveries. Being a day behind the fastest in the market isnt a big deal, but trust,
consistency and reliability are more important. The more faith the customer has in
your delivery service, the more likely he is to buy again. Delivering a good
experience is critical not only to ensure repeat purchase from a customer, but also
for building a good brand image and word-of-mouth publicity.
Growing the base
Online shopping has seen a lot of traction in the last 12-18 months. India has almost
130 million online users at present, out of which as many as 10% are engaging in
online transactions. The online user base is expected to cross 300 million in the next2 3 years and a larger percentage of people are expected to transact online by
2015. This large base will provide vast scope for e-commerce businesses to
establish themselves in India.
Growing opportunities
Cities beyond metros are in the limelight for all the good reasons. On an average,
almost 50 55% of our business come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities and I believe this
ratio is similar across other ecommerce companies in the country. With metro
markets reaching saturation, I believe tier 2 and 3 cities are going to be the biggestdrivers for ecommerce businesses in India in the not so distant future. Building a
robust supply chain is critical to efficiently fulfilling orders from these cities and
tapping their full market potential.
The e-commerce industry is growing at a rapid pace and changing the dynamics of
the retail industry. In the coming years, e-commerce is expected to contribute close
to 8-10% of the total retail segment in India. This growth is bound to continue
provided e-commerce companies focus on innovating, building strong technology
infrastructure and delivering the best customer experience.
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