A New Dawn For The Brick-And-Mortar Retailers As Online Discount Hype Drops

By siliconindia | Friday, 12 February 2016, 04:47 Hrs

Talking of online retailers, this time, a limited number of brands had discounts running, because e-commerce players wanted to protect margins and turn profitable. The three biggest players in India- Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, had Rs 5,052 crore in FY15 as combined losses.

However, there always seems to be a battle between the online and offline market sales. For instance, in a report, which primarily focused on the war between online and offline prices of the mobile phones, also suggested that out of 150 phones that were surveyed, 94 products were available online at dirt-cheap prices while only 56 mobile phones were cheap in the offline store.

Instead of sounding the death knell for bricks-and-mortar stores, the steady growth of online sales is breathing new life into the physical stores of some retailers. These companies understand that even as e-commerce thrives, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish an online sale from an offline one. Considering hypothetical scenarios, for instance where a consumer browses Amazon’s website looking for a TV, relying heavily on user-generated reviews to make a choice. Checking prices elsewhere on the Web, he discovers that the model he wants is being deeply discounted at a local store nearby. He completes the purchase at the store and carries the TV home.

Hitting the buy button all these years, consumers have eventually come to understand that low online prices mean out-of-season merchandise or old stock from brands and sometimes even outdated designs.

However, this doesn't mark the end of online shopping in India. For example, Amazon sold more goods in the end quarter than it did in all of 2014. The retail space has enough market for both online and offline products.