There is a need for the booming growth of rural e-commerce. The rural Indian market ensures untapped potential to become the market leader for most e-commerce business enthusiasts and budding entrepreneurs. Since independence, nothing has happened in terms of boosting the rural distribution of commercial products within India’s geographical boundaries. Therefore, the urgent need of the minute is to accelerate the expansion of commercial enterprises and e-commerce businesses in rural areas
India has emerged as one of the diverse countries worldwide, and more than 70% of India’s population abides in villages or rural parts of India. The primary source of earning for people residing in rural areas is agro-based products as well as the regular crops produced by these village people only. Since independence, the agro-based sector in India has gained momentum in terms of growth. It contributes half of the country’s overall economy, and a significant bunch of population generates their livelihood from the agro-based sector. It’s a daunting reality that India hasn’t witnessed the growth and rapid development in the agribusiness and agriculture sector as most of the people surviving in rural areas have got marginal land with them. After all, they are not much familiar with modern farming methods and techniques. In addition to this, they don’t have adequate facilities in order to utilize it in full capacity.
Status of E-Commerce in rural part of India
E-commerce in rural India is on the rise as the trend of online shopping has become the trend in the last few years. Most people are inclined to purchase various forms of communities and take advantage of different services via online platforms. This practice is not restricted to urban areas but has also come into practice in full swing in India’s rural parts. In rural areas of India, there is a high penetration of internet and mobile-friendly individuals. The Indian government is leaving no stone unturned in establishing the connection between all the villages and small towns through optical fiber by keeping its eyes on making India digital on a massive scale. In this regard, the objective of the Indian government is to provide citizens living in villages or rural parts of India the benefits of online services.
Is E-Commerce Revolution only for Urban Areas and People Living There?
- The rural population dominates the Indian economy because a significant chunk of the population stays in rural areas.
- Conversely, people living in urban environments are adequately educated, tech-friendly, and have a more substantial propensity to spend and fulfill their needs.
- In these conditions, e-commerce or any industry, for that matter, requires to strike a balance between both sections of the population.
Despite these limits, e-commerce sellers and brands are ardent in examining the opportunities with this part. Moving further, we must note down the impact of e-commerce website development in India’s rural parts. Recently, technology has met the rural parts efficiently and has transformed the prevailing thinking that e-commerce companies may not enter India’s rural region.
Sectors Where E-Commerce is Shining On
In various sectors of rural India, e-commerce has a pivotal role to play. It is uplifting the way of living of people belonging to rural backgrounds and bringing transformative changes in the thought process and old beliefs as well.
The sectors where e-commerce is leaving its impact and is shining on are-
Household Sector
Handicrafts
Agro-Based Products
E-Commerce in Rural India- A Win-Win Situation
- The booming drift of e-commerce in rural India and urban regions as well is simply unstoppable. The consumers going online are blessed with a wide range of options such as fashion, pricing, brands, comfort, and more.
- In the past few years, we had marked there is colossal growth in the digital India program through which most of the villages are united via optical fiber driving to the presence of the internet in almost every village.
- Due to the ubiquity of the internet, rural people are gaining the excellent advantage of every online service in their place, which transformed their lifestyle and devised employment opportunities on the roll for them.
- The presence of the internet created a sweeping scope of e-commerce in rural India as the people are receiving all their household products at their place. The retailer can also have an online presence of their product, which creates a vast customer base for them.
E-Commerce in Rural India: Scope
- E-Commerce in rural India serves retailers and small scale industries like handicrafts with new opportunities to help them get their products online and provide a flourishing path to their business.
- The presence of internet facilities in India’s rural territories has helped people access the products that they want at the place of their choice. It has created a substantial scope for the rural consumers to adopt a different and better way of living and e-commerce companies to formulate a huge customer base by meeting the needs of people living in India’s rural regions.
- Indian postal services have the power to establish connections throughout the world. Its evolution and growth have been a blissful journey. It has made its appearance felt in the remotest locations of India. More than 1, 55,000 post offices in the remote areas are connected to present the goods to the customers, irrespective of the far-flung places. It is a welcoming plot where e-commerce industries are committed to assisting our country to become digital by the logistics channel. In the last two years, Indian postal services have collaborated with around 400 e-commerce websites.
- E-commerce had devised a social reform in the community, especially in rural domains. The internet users in rural areas are frequently below the age of 25, so in the youth, there is the new scope of getting more beneficial products as per their call, which alters their lifestyle and also builds faith for their grooming and generating brand-new opportunities.
