Etailers to add 12 million jobs to cart in 10 years
BENGALURU: E-commerce in India has the potential to add 12 million new jobs over the next 10 years, lending a helping hand to 120 million new jobseekers, who are likely to join the workforce in the next decade, a new report has said.
Nearly 70% of these new jobs are expected to be in broad supply chain activities, including logistics, warehousing and courier, and around 30% in customer care, information technology and management, according to a study by HSBC Global Research titled India: More jobs per click - The employment potential of e-commerce.
Internet penetration will aid this job growth, the report said. India, which currently has around 330 million internet subscribers, 94% of whom use wireless means, will drive internet shopping, thereby fuelling e-commerce activities. The one billion cellphone subscriber base, covering 75% of India’s population, one billion biometric identities (Aadhar cards) and 220 million new bank accounts created since 2014 will also aid this growth .
Organised sector currently accounts for only 8% of India’s overall retail pie, against 25% in China and 85% in the US. Bringing more and more unorganised players within the fold of organised retail will also help boost e-commerce
E-commerce is still less than 2% of the overall consumption in India, against 14% in China, so India still needs to do a lot of catching up to realise its job potential in the sector.
According to the report, that setting up of digital market places in rural India could strengthen job opportunities in e-commerce.
For this, India can take a leaf out of the Taobao village programme in China created by Chinese internet giant Alibaba. From 20 such villages in 2013, the number has grown to 780 by 2015. These digital villages are spread over 17 provinces in China, and cover more than 200,000 active online shops.
“In India, the potential for e-commerce in rural areas is promising, given the infrastructure inadequacies similar to China. The market potential is sizeable as well. For example, more than 800 million people live in 640 villages (in India),” according to the report.