'Online Commerce Will Compliment Physical Retail Stores'

"There has been some effect of e-commerce on the physical retail industry," said Nasir Jamal, secretary general of the e-Commerce Association of India, that has around 300 members in this industry segment and related space.

"But in many cases, e-commerce is also complementing the retail industry by allowing it to have access to more customers beyond the boundaries of their shops," Jamal told.

Industry veteran Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, which was among the early movers in the e-commerce space, recently said he saw "good potential" in this area and was personally looking at investing in online retailing.

Even Reliance Retail, the retail chain of Reliance Industries, is planning to go online and so is the Aditya Vikram Birla Group which is in the midst of identifying opportunities in e-commerce.

"A model will evolve and I don't think brick and mortar stores will go away in a hurry. You need some kind of a physical structure," said Rachna Nath, head of retail space, in PriceWaterhouseCoopers India.

"There are a few industries like mobile, apparel and books that got impacted by the e-commerce business. Book stores also changed their merchandise categories after they started selling big-time via online sites," Nath told.
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