But some leading industry chambers cautioned against over-regulation and the matter died down.

"There is the need to professionalise. A profitable model is also yet to evolve. Operationally everyone is challenged. The supply chain hasn't grown the way demand has. There's no business model yet," Saurabh Srivastava, director with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), told IANS.

Going forward, experts expect several developments in the e-retail space.

Besides logging a 40-45 per cent annual growth, they feel huge investments will flow into logistics to overcome the challenges of last-mile reach. They also expect large retail chains of Reliance Industries and the Aditya Vikram Birla Group, among others, to go online.

"The coming year will be more dynamic. A lot of niche e-commerce players will emerge. We expect to see a good number of traditional businesses also leveraging this channel in both the B2B and B-2-C space," Vellody said.

Experts also predict some initial public offerings in the near term not just because existing investors will seek to realise value but also since the e-retail industry will need funds for infrastructure, logistics and warehousing - estimated at $500 million now and 1.9 trillion by 2017.

"The e-commerce industry is in a growth stage. A lot is expected in the coming days," Nasir Jamal, secretary general of the e-Commerce Association of India, told IANS.

"We will see more consolidations. Public issues will also happen. The industry is keenly awaiting the GST (goods and service tax) to get cleared. It will help in seamless movement of goods among states. It will give the e-commerce industry wider operations and a major push."

Highlights of e-commerce industry in 2014:

- US-based Amazon commits $2 billion in India's e-commerce space

- SoftBank invests $627 million in Snapdeal, $210 millin in Ola cabs

- Flipkart gets $1.7 billion in funding, taking valuation to $7 billion

- Reliance Group exits Yatra.com with 12-fold increase in original investment

- Footfalls during festive season drop in shops in favour of e-commerce

- Physical retail segment demands level field, regulations vis-a-vis e-retail.

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