THE BIG BULGE

Projected online retail buyers, spending in India: 2015-2020

number is expected to double in the next five years. Much of online buying happens over the mobile phone. The country is the second largest smartphone market, behind China, with 235 million subscribers in the quarter ended March 2016, says research firm IDC. Forrester, another research firm, finds that only 14 per cent of Indian internet users (some 35 million) shop online, but adds that the number will grow to 128 million by 2018. Industry body Assocham maintains that India’s ecommerce sector was worth $23 billion (Rs 1.53 lakh crore) in calendar 2015, and will touch $38 billion (Rs 2.53 lakh crore) by end2016.