SEPTEMBER 201919With every new Indian language that is added to a product's digital platform, the business can better connect with its local clienteleThe growth of the Internet will have a strong impact on businesses namely, media, logistics, financial technology, entertainment, travel & hospitality and e-Commerce. According to NASSCOM-Akamai's report, it is predicted that mobile phones will be preferred over other devices for shopping and will account for almost 70 percent of total online shopping. By 2020, e-Commerce is likely to double to US$34 billion, which will be mainly driven by the online retail space. Mobile phones will be the preferred mode of shopping and will account for almost 70 percent of total online shopping. The Indian travel market will touch US$40 billion by 2020, and online travel will account for 40-50 percent of all travel-related transactions as opposed to only 12 percent in 2015.What are Indian Businesses Doing to Localise?The fact that Internet penetration has a long way to go in India only means that online growth and spending will increase exponentially. In January this year, e-Commerce business - Snapdeal incorporated 10 local languages in its mobile platform. Paytm followed suit a month later, rolling out its services in Hindi. Quickr recently launched its platform in seven local languages. This expansion of online sellers into languages other than the elite English is helping drive bullish predictions for Indian e-Commerce. Morgan Stanley predicts that total sales will hit US$137 billion by 2020, up from US$11 billion in 2013.Not knowing English does not equate to being non-literate. Some startups are bypassing English altogether, building services for Indians who prefer to use their native tongue online. ShabdaNagari, is one such social networking site in Hindi. Mooshak, the Hindi version of Twitter, offers newfound opportunities for politicians to reach the Indian heartland. The fact that Hindi content on the web increased by 94 percent last year, five times faster than the pace for English content, indicates that services like ShabdaNagari and Mooshak are on the right track. Foreign Companies Using Localisation to their AdvantageForeign companies have been quick to embrace local languages as part of their localisation drive in this multilingual digital market. Chinese Baidu's MoboMarket app store now supports five Indian languages. And much to the glee of movie lovers, U.S.-based online streaming service, Netflix is planning to produce its first Hindi drama. Google reported 50 percent increase in Hindi searches on mobile since the feature enabling Hindi search was launched. The language localisation vision 2020 of India aims to bring about numerous opportunities in the localised digital space that would not only augment growth of the Indian economy but also lead to powerful social impact.
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