1.

Introduction
Internet is one component which has recently become the key ingredient of
quick and rapid lifestyle. Be it for communication or explorations, connecting
with people or for official purposes, internet has become the central-hub for
all.
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that
use the standard Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to serve several billion users
worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private,
public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global
scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical
networking technologies. The Internet carries an extensive range of
information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext
documents of the World Wide Web (WWW), the infrastructure to support
email, and peer-to-peer networks.
The Internet has enabled and accelerated new forms of human interactions
through instant messaging, Internet forums, and social networking. Online
shopping has boomed both for major retail outlets and small artisans and
traders. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect
supply chains across entire industries.
Resultantly, Internet growth has led to a host of new developments, such as
decreased margins for companies as consumers turn more and more to the
internet to buy goods and demand the best prices, as observed by C.K
Prahalad, Professor, Business School, University of Michigan.
The internet means that traditional businesses will change because
incumbents (in markets ) and large firms do not have the advantage just
by virtue of being there first or by being of big , he said. The implication of
perfectly competitive market as the world will observe is that markets will
produce an efficient allocation of resources.
Internet has truly been an effective agent in changing the fundamental ways
of doing business. In any market with no entry barriers - the Net is biggest of
them, the continuous influx of competition will , automatically , drive down
the prices. In such a case , in long term all firms could only earn normal
profits.
1

E- commerce
Electronic commerce (or e-commerce) encompasses all business
conducted
by
means
of
computer networks. Advances in telecommunications and computer
technologies
in
recent
years have made computer networks an integral part of the economic
infrastructure.
More
and more companies are facilitating transactions over web. There has
been
tremendous
competition to target each and every computer owner who is connected to the
Web.
Although business-to-business transactions play an important part in ecommerce market, a share of e-commerce revenues in developed
countries is generated from business to consumer transactions.
E-commerce provides multiple benefits to the consumers in form of
availability of goods at lower cost, wider choice and saves time. People can
buy goods with a click of mouse button without moving out of their house or
office. Similarly online services such as banking, ticketing (including airlines,
bus, railways), bill payments, hotel booking etc. have been of tremendous
benefit for the customers. Most experts believe that overall e-commerce
will increase exponentially in coming years.
Business to business transactions will represent the largest revenue but
online retailing will also enjoy a drastic growth. Online businesses like
financial services, travel, entertainment, and groceries are all likely to grow.
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, is a
type of industry where the buying and selling of products or services is
conducted over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer
networks. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile
commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet
marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI),
inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems.
2

Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at
one point in the transaction's life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider
range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices, social media, and
telephones as well.
Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of ebusiness. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing
and payment aspects of business transactions. This is an effective and
efficient way of communicating within an organization and one of the most
effective and useful ways of conducting business.

2. E- commerce in India
For developing countries like India, e-commerce offers considerable
opportunity.
Ecommerce in India is still in nascent stage, but even the mostpessimistic
projections
indicate a boom. It is believed that low cost of personal computers, a growing
installed
base
for Internet use, and an increasingly competitive Internet Service Provider
(ISP) market will help fuel e-commerce growth in Asias second most
populous nation. Indian middle class of 288 million people is equal to the
entire U.S. consumer base. This makes India a real attractive market for
e-commerce.
To make a successful e-commerce transaction both the payment and
delivery services must be made efficient. There has been a rise in the number
of companies' taking up e-commerce in the recent past. Major Indian portal
sites have also shifted towards e-commerce instead of depending on
advertising revenue.
Many sites are now selling a diverse range of products and services from
flowers, greeting cards, and movie tickets to groceries, electronic gadgets,
and computers. With stock exchanges coming online the time for true ecommerce in India has finally arrived. On the negative side there are
many challenges faced by e-commerce sites in India.
3

The relatively small credit card population and lack of uniform credit
agencies create a variety of payment challenges unknown in India.
Delivery of goods to consumer by couriers and postal services is not very
reliable in smaller cities, towns and rural areas.
However, many Indian Banks have put the Internet banking facilities. The
speed post and courier system has also improved tremendously in
recent years. Modern computer technology like secured socket layer (SSL)
helps to protect against payment fraud, and to share information with
suppliers and business partners. With further improvement in payment and
delivery system it is expected that India will soon become a major player in
the e-commerce market.
While many companies, organizations, and communities in India are
beginning to take advantage of the potential of e-commerce, critical
challenges remain to be overcome before e-commerce would become an
asset for common people.
Indias ecommerce industry is on the growth curve and experiencing a spurt
in growth. The Online Travel Industry is the biggest segment in ecommerce
and is booming due largely to the Internet-savvy urban population.

The other segments, categorized under online nontravel industry, include eTailing (online retail), online classifieds and Digital Downloads (still in a
nascent stage). The online travel industry has some private players such as
Makemytrip, Cleartrip and Yatra as well as a strong government presence in
terms of IRCTC, which is a successful Indian Railways initiative.
The online classifieds segment is broadly divided into three sectors; Jobs,
Matrimonial and Real Estate. Mobile Commerce is also growing rapidly and
proving to be a stable and secure supplement to eCommerce due to the
record growth in mobile user base in India, in recent years. Growth drivers
and barriers are present in equal measures for new eCommerce ventures.
Unique to India (and potentially to other developing countries), cash on
delivery is a preferred payment method. India has a vibrant cash economy as
a result of which 80% of Indian e-commerce tends to be Cash on Delivery.
Similarly, direct imports constitute a large component of online sales.
Demand for international consumer products (including long-tail items) is
growing much faster than in-country supply from authorised distributors and
e-commerce offerings.

A report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India has revealed

that
Indiaa
Ecommerce market is growing at an average rate of 70 percent annually and
has grown over 500 percent since 2007.
The current estimate of US$ 6.79 billion for year 2010 is way ahead of the
market size in the year 2007 at $1.75 billion. The following chart depicts the
growth of E-commerce in India in the last couple of years.
India's e-commerce market grew at a staggering 88 per cent in 2013 to $ 16
billion, riding on booming online retail trends and defying slower economic
growth and spiralling inflation, according to a survey by industry body
Assocham."The increasing Internet penetration and availability of more
payment options boosted the e-commerce industry in 2013," Assocham
Secretary General D S Rawat said.( Dec 30, 2013, The Economic Times).

The Business to Business (B2B) grew from USD 135 Mn to approximately 351
Mn from FY 2010 to 2012 (Ken Research). In the B2B sphere, medium
enterprises have the highest contribution at 48% followed by 32% and 20%
of small and micro companies. Lack of awareness among the micro
enterprises regarding internet technology has hampered growth. However
things look promising as small enterprises has displayed the highest CAGR of
69% in the last 3 years. This is mainly because a majority of these firms are
5

run by young entrepreneurs who have higher propensity to use internet as a

platform for generating sales. Players like indiamart.com, Tradeindia.com and
Alibaba.com have hogged a majority of the market share. With a 3-firm
concentration ratio of .957, the B2B market is high concentrated.
The new report, e-Commerce Market in India 2013 states that a steady rise in
the disposable income and proliferation of internet across the country
happen to be the primary market drivers for e-Commerce businesses in
India. It is anticipated that the tier II & III cities will contribute the most in
shaping up the demand curve in the ensuing years. A thorough research on
the market shows brimming opportunities for vendors from the mobileinternet
and
social
media
space.
The Indian e-Commerce market primarily comprises of five major segments
i.e. online travel, retail, financial services, digital downloads and other
services, wherein the online travel and retail segments dominate the overall
pie with a cumulative share of more than 85%. Of all, online retail happens to
be the fastest growing segment in the Indian market.
Competition in the market is severe and low consumer loyalty prevailing in
the market furthers the competition by manifolds. Revamped business
strategies, consolidations and innovation in products/service delivery model
have
become
the
most
eminent
trends
in
market.
An Analysis of the basic causes which actually boost the market in favor of
the players, has highlighted the major market boosters in the likes of
increased disposable income, increasing internet penetration & PC user base
and ease of transaction. On the other hand, issues hindering the profitability
of players include the high cost of online advertising, losses incurred in
providing Cash-on-Delivery (COD) services to end consumers and operational
cost stack-ups. These practical challenges have taken a heavy toll on the
vendors operating in the market, especially in the online retail segment.
However, nullifying these challenges is not an easy way for the players and
hence business models are constantly being tweaked and revamped in order
to
squeeze
in
maximum
profitability.
Indian e-Commerce market is currently brimming with opportunities and
vendors are poised to reap substantial benefits from the same. The
exponential growth in the usage of mobile internet can be effectively utilized
by vendors to gain a deeper market reach. Further, mobile internet can also
be beneficial for an effective and efficient marketing medium which paves
way for a better customer acquisition and retention process. Additionally, the
massive user base of social networking websites have become the biggest
database for vendors to scout for prospective customers. Advanced
analytical tools and applications have made the job easier for vendors in
6

India.
Competition in the market is seen to be highly stiff and factors such as low
brand loyalty, price sensitivity and affinity towards discounted offers &
services amongst consumers makes the competition even severe. Advanced
analytical tools and applications are being constantly sought after by players
in order to create a better scope in the market.
(2/3/2014 | published by: Netscribes (India) Pvt.
Ltd.)

2.1 Facilitators of e-commerce in India

A.Information directories:

The products and services a relisted with appropriate subheadings

to make it easy for a serious information-seeker to find what he
wants. Allied services provided by them: Message boards, chat rooms,
forums, etc.

B. Banks:
1) Net banking/phone banking: This is an online banking facility
available for savings account holders as well as current account
holders. Some of the special Net banking services are: Demat
accounts for sale/purchase of stocks and shares, Foreign
Exchange services, Direct/Instant payment of bills on the accountholders behalf, Financial Planning.
7

2) Credit/Debit Cards- Banks facilitate E-commerce by providing

the most vital trade instrument, namely the Credit or Debit Card,
without which E-commerce would be impossible.

3. Scope and Growth of E-Commerce- A

2013 Update
The ecommerce industry of India is one of the fastest growing segment in
the Asia Pacific region. With a staggering CAGR of 34.58% from 2009 to
2012, the Industry has expanded from INR 19249 Crore (USD 3.49 bn) to INR
47,349 Crore (USD 8.60 bn) in a matter of 3 years. This expansion can be
mainly attributed to the decrease in the price of personal computers, growth
in the number of active internet users and the extremely competitive
Internet Service Provider (ISP) market.

A look at the e-Commerce market

The Business to Business (B2B) grew from USD 135 Mn to approximately 351
Mn from FY 2010 to 2012 (Ken Research). In the B2B sphere, medium
enterprises have the highest contribution at 48% followed by 32% and 20%
of small and micro companies. Lack of awareness among the micro
enterprises regarding internet technology has hampered growth. However
things look promising as small enterprises has displayed the highest CAGR of
69% in the last 3 years. This is mainly because a majority of these firms are
run by young entrepreneurs who have higher propensity to use internet as a
platform for generating sales. Players like indiamart.com, Tradeindia.com and
Alibaba.com have hogged a majority of the market share. With a 3-firm
concentration ratio of .957, the B2B market is high concentrated.

In the Business to Consumer (B2C) domain, the primary driver of growth is

high internet penetration and increase in the number of active users. The
rise of the disposable income of the middle class India has led to an increase
in online spending of the goods. According to Internet and Mobile Association
of India (IAMAI), as many as 19.2 million people have looked for information
online, Out of these, 73% have bought either some goods or services from
the internet. The number of people who shops online has doubled in mere
two years and is a positive sign for the ecommerce industry.
Owing to the small size of the B2B market, this article limits itself to the
scope and growth of ecommerce in the B2C sphere.

A comparative analysis of the Indian ecommerce market

Strengths and Opportunities
There is high internet penetration in tier 1 cities and the number of online
shoppers is rising.
There is also a rise in the disposable income of customers.
Funding, in the form of angel and seed funds, is available from Venture
Capitalists and Private investors
Competitive pricing of the goods sold online has led to an increase in
demand for the goods.
Demand for internet banking and cards (both debit and credit) is high.
10

The Cash-on-delivery mechanism, an innovation in the ecommerce space has

increased the confidence of customers.
Possibility of price war among e commerce companies has led to reduction in
profitability.

Weaknesses and Threats

There is a lack of proper distribution channels particularly in tier 2 and tier 3
cities. This is going to reduce the level of customer satisfaction.
The element of fun in the shopping experience is missing in case of online
shopping.
There are worries in the minds of customers about the personal security and
that the financial details entered while shopping online will be misused.
In some cases, there is also lack of trust amongst customers about the
quality of the product.

Segmenting the e-commerce B2C market

The industry can be segmented into mainly travel and non travel sites.
Online travel comprises 71% of the Digital Commerce pie. This is because of
the booming urban internet savvy population who prefer to book rail and air
tickets online. The other segments mainly E-Tailing, Financial Services,
Classifieds, and other online services constitutes much lesser share of the
digital space.
11

Online Travel Segment

The online travel segment has seen a CAGR of 55.5% from 2007-2012. The is
due to rise of disposable income, surge in demand for domestic travel and
the boom of the tourism industry. Domestic travel contributed to as much as
50% of the total market, followed by railways tickets, international air tickets,
hotel bookings and bus tickets.
The Indian online travel market is highly fragmented. Indian Railways, the
market leader, has only 19.2% reach. Other major players like
makemytrip.com and yatra Online has 11.6% and 8.3% respectively. The
portals have transformed from a mere ticketing website to a complete travel
guide. To reduce the dependence on air booking, these portals have
introduced deals and package tours. The online travel segment market is
expected to grow at a CAGR of 32% for the next 5 years and will remain a
dominant contributor to the total e-commerce revenue.

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Top Travel Websites

Indian Railways
Makemytrip.com
Yatra Online
Jet Airways
TripAdvisor
Indiainforail.com
Cleartrip.com
Expedia
Travor Media
Mustseeindia.com
Redbus.in

Reach
19.2%
11,6%
8.35%
4.6%
3.9%
3.2%
3.0%
2.9%
2.6%
2.3%
2.0%

Source: Comscore Media Metrix, 2012,

13

E-Tailing
E-tailing encompasses buying consumer items like apparels, electronic
devices, home and kitchen appliances, jewellery, online. The E-tailing market
grew at a staggering pace of 60% in the last 3 years.This high growth is due
to changing customer preferences, faith in online retail, and high
convenience yield provided by online shopping. Competition is intense due
to low entry barrier of this segment. However, Amazon.com, flipkart,
snapdeal.com,jabong.com, and myntra.com are some of the major players.

This segment is expected to grow further as people become more pressed

for time. Also the choice that e-tailing sites offer to customers will drive
demand for this segment. However there will be intense price based
competition in this sector and consolidations are in the order.

14

Online Financial Services

The financial services segment includes applying for insurance, paying online
bills, and premiums and online transactions for financial services. According
to Ken research group, in every 18 minutes an online insurance plan is sold.
The costs of these insurance policies are lesser with premiums being 40%60% cheaper. This is a win-win situation for both the insurance provider and
the customers. Also the convenience provided by online portals has led to
more customers choosing the online route for bill payment.

The online financial services segment is expected to grow at the strady pace
of 23% for the next 5 years. The growth will be fuelled by the expanding
online insurance market and more internet penetration. In addition to that,
many Indian banks have rolled out online loan application process.
Classifieds
The classified segment has also witnessed some 40% growth over the last
few years. It is in a very nascent stage and has lot of scope for growth.
Online advertising is lot cheaper than conventional methods and unlike the
latter, it is not constrained to a geographic location. The growth is mainly
fuelled by services like online job (60% of the segment), online matrimony,
B2C classifieds and B2B classifieds. Naukri.com, timesjob.com, monster.com
are the major players in the job market while jeevansathi.com, shaadi.com
are the major matrimonial sites.
15

Other online Services

These include sites offering online services like buying entertainment tickets,
food and grocery. IAMAI estimates the market size of these services to be
around INR 1,110 Crore in 2012. This is expected to grow by 25%. The
market for buying entertainment, movies and sports tickets are valued at INR
795 Crore while online food delivery is sized at INR 250 Crore.
Bookmyshow.com is a major player in the segment.

16

Future Scope and Growth

The growth of e commerce will be on two accounts: One is due to the
changes in the macro-economic parameters like disposable income, internet
penetration, inflow of investments, and the other due to segment specific
factors.
Macro-economic factors Personal Disposable Income will continue to
rise
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), personal disposable
income has grown by 15.8% annually from 2007 to 2012 reaching to USD
1546 billion in 2012. As personal disposable income rise, it signals that the
purchasing power of the people and their standard of living has increased. As
a result, demand for goods and services are expected to rise. With more
disposable income, the benefits of time saving offered by e-commerce will
lead to growth in the sector.

Number of active Internet users in India is poised to rise

17

Internet penetration has increased by a CAGR of 30% from 2007 to 2012.

There has been an increase in internet user base and such trend is expected
to continue. With more number of unique users, the attractiveness of the
sector will rise. This will led to more advertisement on the digital media. As
advertisements increase, the trial rate and the repeat rate for online retailing
is likely to increase. This will trigger growth in both the travel and non travel
segment due to more customer acquisition.

Demand for debit and credit cards will see a rise

The demand for debit and credit cards has also seen a steady rise over the
last few years. Most of the banks now provide online banking and debit card
facility with every new account. With the financial inclusion drive by the RBI,
the number of bank accounts (and hence the number of debit cards) will
definitely see a rise. This coupled with rising disposable income will
invariably lead to more online transactions.

18

Segment Specific factors

In the online travel segment, growth of the tourism industry and demand of
domestic travel will have positive externalities on the e-commerce industry.
With travel websites providing additional features like hotel booking and
package tours, the convenience factor offered byy these websites will lead to
growth. Additionally, internet gives users the a choice where they can
evaluate an offer, compare the prices and decide on the one that suit their
demand. In the online retail space, absence of showrooms and high cost of
transportation prevents those in tier 2 cities to access global brands thus
increasing demand for online shopping.
Conclusion
The ecommerce industry in India is nascent. With internet penetration,
Personal disposable income on the rise and with gradual demand of debit
and credit cards, the ecommerce industry is all set for some good growth
numbers in the future. There are, however, concerns amongst customers
regarding the quality of the product/offer, lack of the fun factor of
shopping, and, about the security of the online payments. These challenges
are being addressed by innovations like cash on delivery, money back
guarantee, such challenges can be easily dealt with. Due to lower barriers of
entry, competition is likely to be quite high. Price based competition can lead
to shrink in margins. However the next few years will see some consolidation
in the market space and inflow of investment in this sector is quite likely.
Overall the future of the ecommerce industry is indeed very bright.
The article has been authored by Pritam Banerjee, IIM Ahmedabad.

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4. E-Commerce Government
Regulations
An ineffective cyber law of India and lack of cyber law skills among the law
enforcement agencies of India is resulting in increased cyber crimes and
offences through the medium of e-commerce websites in India. Further,
cyber law awareness in India is also missing that is resulting in increased ecommerce frauds in India.
In these circumstances, e-commerce websites frauds, offences and crimes in
India have increased a lot. For instance, the e-commerce sites selling adult
merchandise in India are openly violating the laws of India. Similarly, ecommerce websites in India are engaging in punishable soft porn publication
and Indian government is sleeping over the matter.
There are well recognised legal requirements to start an e-commerce website
in India and the legal formalities required for starting e-commerce business
in India. As on date, the e-commerce websites are not following such techno
legal requirements. They are also not following the cyber law due diligence
requirements of India and are liable for Internet intermediary liability in India.
E-commerce websites dealing with online pharmacies, online gamming and
gambling, online selling of adult merchandise, etc are openly and
continuously violating the laws of India, including the cyber law of India.
However, India government has yet to take action against these offending ecommerce websites of India.
Fortunately, the Supreme Court of India is taking some action in this regard.
Recently, the Supreme Court of India has sought response from central
government over blocking of porn website sin India. Similarly, the Supreme
Court of India has entertained a public interest litigation seeking regulations
and guidelines for effective investigation of cyber crimes in India.
The cyber law of India is too weak to tackle cyber criminals effectively. In
fact, cyber law of India should be repealed and an effective cyber law must
be formulated as soon as possible. The cyber criminals are becoming
innovative day by day and our laws are grossly inadequate to deal with the
same.
For instance, numerous websites, both Indian and foreign, are violating the
cyber law of India by operating illegal e-commerce websites in India. These
20

websites are engaging in illegal trade in wildlife, promising home delivery of

live animals, prized animal parts and rare medicinal plants from across
nations through simple internet banking formats.

These are transnational crimes where the authorship attribution for cyber
crimes is very difficult to establish. Realising this reality, the India's wildlife
crime control bureau (WCCB) is utilising the services of cyber crime experts
to trace such cyber criminals. A preliminary inquiry by WCCB bureau's cyber
crime specialists has indicated that nearly a thousand websites are
advertising sale and delivery of live animals and animal products protected
under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 of India and the global convention on
international trade in endangered species (CITES).
Surprisingly, most of these websites are popular shopping websites, online
classifieds and free ad posting websites, etc. They are clearly violating the
cyber law and other laws of India and Indian government is not taking any
action against these websites. It is high time to take strict penal action
against such illegal e-commerce websites in India.
E-commerce is an abbreviation of electronic commerce. We can take idea
from their name that their meaning is related to any electronic equipment.
However, the question is that, which kind of equipment has been used in ecommerce.
When we buy and sell of any product through their internet, can be called Ecommerce. It means, any transaction, which has done by internet(any
electronic device or network) , is falling under the category of E-commerce.
The use of paper documents is eliminated in e-commerce. The various
technologies are included in e-commerce, such as net banking, online
transaction, electronic fund transfer, electronic data interchange (EDI),
supply chain management , etc. E-commerce is basically considered to ebusiness. It facilitates exchanges of data from one system to another and
business transactions have done on internet. This is one of most efficient
way for conducting business and communicating with organisations.
Well, after discussing about E-commerce, now we discuss about the
government regulations in against E-commerce. Let us have a look:

21

In India, the e-commerce websites are regulated by central government.

When the cyber law was not coming in India, then the cyber offences and
crimes are continually increased over the time period. The various ecommerce sites are selling adult merchandise without getting any permission
and violating laws of India. As same as, the other crimes and frauds, which
are illegal, are openly violating the law of India.
Therefore, for preventing all of these cyber crimes and frauds, government
was established the various authorities, who prevents the cyber offence by
taking immediate steps. After cyber law has came in India, the supreme
court is also entertained the public interest litigations (PIL) in against cyber
crimes. These cyber crimes are mostly related to online gambling, selling
adult merchandise, online pharmacies, etc. are openly violating the cyber
law of India.
In following matters the government should also be taken some essential
steps:
1. Law must be established for Telemedicine:
For promoting and extending their medicine related business, the ecommerce is one of the most efficient way for entrepreneurs. However, in
the behind of e-commerce, they are doing various illegal acts, which are
openly violating the cyber law of India. India has no dedicated telemedicine
law for preventing the offence. If we see an example of Perry4Law
organisation, they we have realized that dedicated telemedicine law must be
regulated in India. There are many medical professionals, who are engaged
with many kind of illegal acts of telemedicine and which are openly violating
22

the cyber law, has been presented in India. Its time to regulate internet
medical related acts by government before making a big and nuisance issue
for individuals health.

2. Laws and regulations related to Online Gambling:

First of all, the question has arisen that the online gambling is legal in India
and not. The Gambling and online gambling is illegal in India except the
states of Sikkim and Goa. In these states, the gambling and online gambling
is not illegal. However, the legality of gambling is basically depending upon
Skill based and prospect based gambling activities. Therefore, each case has
arisen their own circumstances and we cannot enforce their decision in every
kind of circumstances of online gambling and normal gambling.
In India, for starting their e-commerce business, its mandatory to follow
some legal formalities which are related to Indias cyber law. In the various
formalities, the motive of business has found by authority and penalizes the
site in the case of cybercrime and fraud. However, this is not sufficient
because authority is not ensuring about their work and offender can hide
from the eyes of government.

Therefore, before launching the E-commerce portal, the company and

concerned person make sure about legal requirements are complied exactly.

3. Laws related to E-books publication:

In India, the e-books are preventing over a time period which is not a good
signal for bookstores of India. Therefore, it also the source of cybercrime and
fraud. The e-books are become prevalent as same as e-commerce. E-books
has opened a new education sector for individuals. For e-books publication,
publisher must be required to follow various formalities, which is recognized
under the cyber law.
Well, in above explanation, its clear that the government has made various
regulations for cyber crimes and e-commerce. However, the one thing is
most important which is not mentioned in above explanation, which is that,
all E-commerce websites, which are covered in India, are required to follow
the many legislations including Information Technology Act, 2000.

23

5. E-Commerce Business Applications

Some common applications related to electronic commerce are:

Document automation in supply chain and logistics

Domestic and international payment systems
Enterprise content management
Group buying
Automated online assistants
Instant messaging
Newsgroups
Online shopping and order tracking
Online banking
Online office suites
Shopping cart software
Teleconferencing
Electronic tickets
Social networking

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1. Document automation in supply chain and logistics

Document automation (also known as document assembly) is the design of
systems and workflows that assist in the creation of electronic documents.
These include logic-based systems that use segments of pre-existing text
and/or data to assemble a new document. This process is increasingly used
within certain industries to assemble legal documents, contracts and letters.
Document automation systems can also be used to automate all conditional
text, variable text, and data contained within a set of documents.
Automation systems allow companies to minimize data entry, reduce the
time spent proof-reading, and reduce the risks associated with human error.
Additional benefits include: time and financial savings due to decreased
paper handling, document loading, storage, distribution, postage/shipping,
faxes, telephone, labor and waste.
There are many documents used in logistics. They are called: invoices,
packing lists/slips/sheets (manifests), content lists, pick tickets, arrival
acknowledgement forms/reports of many types (e.g. MSDS, damaged goods,
returned goods, detailed/summary, etc.), import/export, delivery, bill of
lading (BOL), etc. These documents are usually the contracts between the
consignee and the consignor, so they are very important for both parties and
any intermediary, like a third party logistics company (3PL) and
governments. Document handling within logistics, supply chain management
and distribution centers is usually performed manual labor or semiautomatically using bar code scanners, software and tabletop laser printers.
There are some manufacturers of high speed document automation systems
that will automatically compare the laser printed document to the order and
either insert or automatically apply an enclosed wallet/pouch to the shipping
container (usually a flexible polybag or corrugated fiberboard/rigid
container). See below for external website video links showing these
document automation systems. Protection of Privacy and Identity Theft are
major concerns, especially with the increase of e-Commerce, Internet/Online
shopping and Shopping channel (other, past references are catalogue and
mail order shopping) making it more important than ever to guarantee the
correct document is married or associated to the correct order or shipment
every time. Software that produce documents are; ERP, WMS, TMS, legacy
middleware and most accounting packages. A number of research projects
have looked into wider standardisation and automation of documents in the
freight industry.
2. Domestic and international payment systems
The payment system is an operational network - governed by laws, rules and
standards - that links bank accounts and provides the functionality for
25

monetary exchange using bank deposits. The payment system is the

infrastructure (consisting of institutions, instruments, rules, procedures,
standards,and technical means) established to effect the transfer of
monetary value between parties discharging mutual obligations. Its technical
efficiency determines the efficiency with which transaction money is used in
the economy, and risk associated with its use.
What makes it a "system" is that it employs cash-substitutes; traditional
payment systems are negotiable instruments such as drafts (e.g., checks)
and documentary credits such as letter of credits. With the advent of
computers and electronic communications a large number of alternative
electronic payment systems have emerged. These include debit cards, credit
cards, electronic funds transfers, direct credits, direct debits, internet
banking and e-commerce payment systems. Some payment systems include
credit mechanisms, but that is essentially a different aspect of payment.
Payment systems are used in lieu of tendering cash in domestic and
international transactions and consist of a major service provided by banks
and other financial institutions.
Payment systems may be physical or electronic and each has its own
procedures and protocols. Standardisation have allowed some of these
systems and networks to grow to a global scale, but there are still many
country- and product-specific systems. Examples of payment systems that
have become globally available are credit card and automated teller machine
networks. Specific forms of payment systems are also used to settle financial
transactions for products in the equity markets, bond markets, currency
markets, futures markets, derivatives markets, options markets and to
transfer funds between financial institutions both domestically using clearing
and Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) systems and internationally using
the SWIFT network. The term electronic payment can refer narrowly to ecommerce - a payment for buying and selling goods or services offered
through the Internet, or broadly to any type of electronic funds transfer.

3. Enterprise content management

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is a formalized means of organizing
and storing an organization's documents, and other content, that relate to
the organization's processes. The term encompasses strategies, methods,
and tools used throughout the lifecycle of the content. Content management
includes ECM, Web content management (WCM), content syndication, and
media asset management. Enterprise content management is not a closedsystem solution or a distinct product category. Therefore, along with
26

Document Related Technologies or Document Lifecycle Management, ECM is

just one possible catch-all term for a wide range of technologies and vendors.
4. Group buying
Group buying, also known as collective buying, offers products and services
at significantly reduced prices on the condition that a minimum number of
buyers would make the purchase. Origins of group buying can be traced to
China where (tungu) or team buying was executed to get discount
prices from retailer when a large group of people were willing to buy the
same item. In recent time, group buying websites have emerged as a major
player in online shopping business. Typically, these websites feature a "deal
of the day", with the deal kicking in once a set number of people agree to
buy the product or service. Buyers then print off a voucher to claim their
discount at the retailer. Many of the group-buying sites work by negotiating
deals with local merchants and promising to deliver crowds in exchange for
discounts.
5. Automated online assistants
An automated online assistant is a program that uses artificial intelligence to
provide customer service or other assistance on a website. Such an assistant
may basically consist of a dialog system, an avatar, as well an expert system
to provide specific expertise to the user.
Automated online assistants have the ability to provide customer service
during 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and may, at least, be a
complement to customer service by humans. One report estimated that an
automated online assistant produced a 30% decrease in the work-load for a
human-provided call centre.
6. Instant messaging
Instant messaging (IM) is a type of online chat which offers real-time text
transmission over the Internet. A LAN messenger operates in a similar way
over a local area network. Short messages are typically transmitted bidirectionally between two parties, when each user chooses to complete a
thought and select "send". Some IM applications can use push
technology to provide real-time text, which transmits messages character by
character, as they are composed. More advanced instant messaging can add
file transfer, clickable hyperlinks, Voice over IP, or video chat.
Non-IM types of chat include multicast transmission, usually referred to as
"chat rooms", where participants might be anonymous or might be
27

previously known to each other (for example collaborators on a project that

is using chat to facilitate communication). Instant messaging systems tend to
facilitate connections between specified known users (often using a contact
list also known as a "buddy list" or "friend list"). Depending on the IM
protocol, the technical architecture can be peer-to-peer (direct point-to-point
transmission) or client-server (a central server retransmits messages from
the sender to the receiver).
7. Usenet newsgroup
A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for
messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be
confusing to some, because it is in fact a discussion group. Newsgroups are
technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on the
World Wide Web. Newsreader software is used to read newsgroups. In recent
years, this form of open discussion on the Internet has lost considerable
ground to browser-accessible forums and social networks such as Facebook
or Twitter, and are considered obsolete.
8. Online shopping and order tracking
Online shopping or e-shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows
consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet
using a web browser. Alternative names are: e-web-store, e-shop, e-store,
Internet shop, web-shop, web-store, online store, online storefront and virtual
store. Mobile commerce (or m-commerce) describes purchasing from an
online retailer's mobile optimized online site or app.
An online shop evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at
a bricks-and-mortar retailer or shopping center; the process is called
business-to-consumer (B2C) online shopping. In the case where a business
buys from another business, the process is called business-to-business (B2B)
online shopping. The largest of these online retailing corporations are
Alibaba, Amazon.com,and eBay. Retail success is no longer all about physical
stores. This is evident because of the increase in retailers now offering online
store interfaces for consumers. With the growth of online shopping, comes a
wealth of new market footprint coverage opportunities for stores that can
appropriately cater to offshore market demands and service requirements.
9. Online banking
Online banking (or Internet banking or E-banking) allows customers of a
financial institution to conduct financial transactions on a secured website
28

operated by the institution, which can be a retail bank,virtual bank, credit

union or building society.
To access a financial institution's online banking facility, a customer having
personal Internet access must register with the institution for the service,
and set up some password (under various names) for customer verification.
The password for online banking is normally not the same as for [telephone
banking]. Financial institutions now routinely allocate customers numbers
(also under various names), whether or not customers intend to access their
online banking facility. Customers numbers are normally not the same as
account numbers, because number of accounts can be linked to the one
customer number. The customer will link to the customer number any of
those accounts which the customer controls, which may be cheque, savings,
loan, credit card and other accounts. Customer numbers will also not be the
same as any debit or credit card issued by the financial institution to the
customer.
To access online banking, the customer would go to the financial institution's
website, and enter the online banking facility using the customer number
and password. Some financial institutions have set up additional security
steps for access, but there is no consistency to the approach adopted.
10. Online office suite
An online office suite or online productivity suite is a type of office suite
offered by websites in the form of software as a service. They can be
accessed online from any Internet-enabled device running any operating
system. This allows people to work together worldwide and at any time,
thereby leading to international web-based collaboration and virtual
teamwork. Usually, the basic versions are offered for free and for more
advanced versions one is required to pay a nominal subscription fee.
Applications are often developed on the Web 2.0 paradigms with leverage on
the existing developer community. Players come from both the commercial
software market and from the open source, free software communities.
11. Shopping cart software
In online marketing, a shopping cart is a piece of e-commerce software on a
web server that allows visitors to an Internet site to select items for eventual
purchase, analogous to the American English term "shopping cart." In British
English, it is generally known as a shopping basket, almost exclusively
shortened on websites to 'basket'.

29

The software allows online shopping customers to accumulate a list of items

for purchase, described metaphorically as placing items in the shopping
cart or add to cart. Upon checkout, the software typically calculates a
total for the order, including shipping and handling (i.e. postage and packing)
charges and the associated taxes, as applicable.
12. Teleconference
A teleconference or teleseminar is the live exchange and mass articulation of
information among several persons and machines remote from one another
but linked by a telecommunications system. Terms such as audio
conferencing, telephone conferencing and phone conferencing are also
sometimes used to refer to teleconferencing.
The telecommunications system may support the teleconference by
providing one or more of the following: audio, video, and/or data services by
one or more means, such as telephone, computer, telegraph, teletypewriter,
radio, and television.
Internet teleconferencing
Internet teleconferencing includes internet telephone conferencing,
videoconferencing, web conferencing, and Augmented Reality conferencing.
Internet telephony involves conducting a teleconference over the Internet or
a Wide Area Network. One key technology in this area is Voice over Internet
Protocol (VOIP). Popular software for personal use includes Skype, Google
Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.
A working example of an Augmented Reality conferencing was demonstrated
at the Salone di Mobile in Milano by AR+RFID Lab. is another AR
teleconferencing tool.
13. Electronic ticket
"E-ticket" redirects here. For the former Disneyland and Disney World tickets,
see E ticket.

30

A sample itinerary for an open jaw electronic ticket from Montreal to

Amsterdam, and returning from Munich
An electronic ticket (commonly abbreviated as e-ticket) is a digital ticket. The
term is most commonly associated with airline issued tickets. Electronic
ticketing for urban or rail public transport is usually referred to as travel card
or transit pass. It is also used in ticketing in the entertainment industry.
14. Social networking service
A social networking service is a platform to build social networks or social
relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities,
backgrounds or real-life connections. A social network service consists of a
representation of each user (often a profile), his social links, and a variety of
additional services. Social networking is web-based services that allow
individuals to create a public profile, to create a list of users with whom to
share connection, and view and cross the connections within the system.
Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to
interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging.Social
network sites are varied and they incorporate new information and
communication tools such as, mobile connectivity, photo/video/sharing and
blogging. Online community services are sometimes considered as a social
network service, though in a broader sense, social network service usually
means an individual-centered service whereas online community services
are group-centered. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas,
pictures, posts, activities, events, and interests with people in their network.
The main types of social networking services are those that contain category
places (such as former school year or classmates), means to connect with
friends (usually with self-description pages), and a recommendation system
linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with Americanbased services such as Facebook, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram,
31

Pinterest, Tumblr and Twitter widely used worldwide; Nexopia in Canada;

Badoo, Bebo, VKontakte (Russia), Delphi (also called Delphi Forums),
Draugiem.lv (mostly in Latvia), Hi5 (Europe), Hyves (mostly in The
Netherlands), iWiW (mostly in Hungary), Nasza-Klasa, Soup (mostly in
Poland), Glocals in Switzerland, Skyrock, The Sphere, StudiVZ (mostly in
Germany), Tagged, Tuenti (mostly in Spain), and XING in parts of Europe; Hi5
and Orkut in South America and Central America; Mxit in Africa; and Cyworld,
Mixi, Orkut, renren, weibo and Wretch in Asia and the Pacific Islands.
There have been attempts to standardize these services to avoid the need to
duplicate entries of friends and interests (see the FOAF standard and the
Open Source Initiative). According to experts, the largest social networking
users are Asian-Pacific regions with 615,9 million people. A 2013 survey
found that 73% U.S adults use social networking sites.

6. E-Commerce and Competition

The changes brought about by E-commerce have the potential to
significantly
increase
competition by increasing consumers choice of products and traders.
They
also
enable
business to achieve significant efficiencies in their commercial operations
as
they
move
from high cost paper-based transactions to faster, lower cost electronic
transactions.
At the same time, care must be taken to ensure that the opportunities for
competition in the dynamic new area of economic activity are not stifled by
anti-competitive issues. While it is true that in rapidly changing high
technology markets competition may be fierce but in some instance
businesses may achieve significant market power, and use their position to
stifle further competition. From a consumer protection prospective, there
have also been a no. of international cases where unscrupulous traders have
taken advantage of the internet as a medium to propagate old-fashioned
scams.
A theme which emerges in this area of competition policy is whether new
technology alters the way in which market power issues should be analysed.

32

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the type of potential issues that
can
emerge
in
Ecommerce in developing country like India under the competition Act
and role that Competition Commission of India can have in dealing with these
issues.
Example
Flipkart seeks merger with Myntra, Indian e-commerce competition
heats up as investors push for key reforms(Thursday, 30 January
2014 - 9:45am IST | Place: Ahmedabad, Mumbai | Agency: DNA
Web Team)
Indias leading e-commerce site Flipkart is in merger talks with fashion
retailer Myntra, as common investors are pushing for consolidation and
merger of the two giants.
Indias leading e-commerce site Flipkart is in merger talks with fashion
retailer Myntra, as common investors are pushing for consolidation and
merger of the two giants.
The proposal is being pushed forward by their common investors Accel
Partners and Tiger Global as per reports.
A report carried by Times of India explained the proposal being rolled out by
Flipkart to acquire Myntra in mergers and acquisitions. The key decision will
be taken in two weeks.
Flipkart has been looking to expand in newer categories such as fashion
retailing and had been rolling out plans to expand its business in fashion
apparels section. Flipkart is targetting a gross merchandise value of $1 billion
and plans to have a complete portfolio to beat its challengers.
Flipkart has raised $540 million so far from investors including Accel, Tiger,
Dragoneer Investment Group and Morgan Stanley Investment Management.
In October last year, it managed to raise $160 million, taking its Series Efunding to be the largest ever by any Indian Internet retailing firm.
Indias nearly $3.1 billion e-commerce market is small in comparison to
Chinas $200 billion market for online sales, but is expected to grow by seven
times to $22 billion in five years, according to a CLSA report.
Recently reports were doing the rounds that Myntra wanted to raise its
capital and one way was to merge with Flipkart. Though meetings with
Flipkart were underway, no official confirmation had been passsed out. But,
once the merger of Flikart-Myntra is complete, it will be a challenge for
33

leading players like Amazon and Snapdeal to compete with Flipkart-Myntra in

terms of business strategies and drawing consumer base.
Example
E-Commerce Competition Intensifies in China
(JAN. 16, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com)
TOKYO An arms race between the two most powerful Internet companies
in China has escalated again, with one of them, Tencent, announcing an
investment that pushes it further into e-commerce territory long controlled
by its rival, Alibaba.
Tencent said on Wednesday that it would pay about 1.5 billion Hong Kong
dollars, or $193 million, for a nearly 10 percent stake in China South City
Holdings, which operates warehouses and factory outlet malls and provides a
variety of other logistical services to retailers. Both companies shares are
listed in Hong Kong.
Until recently, Alibaba and Tencent seemed largely content to develop their
own areas of expertise without moving too aggressively onto each others
turf. Alibaba owns e-commerce sites like Taobao and Tmall, while Tencent
operates messaging services like QQ and WeChat.
But over the last year or so, with Alibaba positioning itself for an initial public
offering and Tencent eyeing the lucrative earnings from the boom in online
retailing in China, the gloves have come off.
Tencent is absolutely trying to get more aggressive in the e-business space,
challenging Alibaba, as most of their services are now overlapping, said
Bryan Wang, an analyst at Forrester Research.
In October, Jack Ma, the chairman of Alibaba, announced that he was
shutting down his WeChat account and moving to a new Alibaba messaging
service called Laiwang. He urged his followers to do the same.
Last week, Alibaba said that it was planning to set up a mobile game
platform from which it would offer applications developed by outside
programmers, sharing the revenue with them. Tencent generates more than
half of its revenue from games. Most are free, but it relies on the vast reach
of WeChat, which says it has more than 270 million active monthly users, to
fuel demand for subsequent in-game purchases by players determined to
stay ahead of their friends. The video game market in China increased 38
percent last year, to $13.8 billion, according to a government agency that
34

monitors the industry. Mobile games were the fastest-growing segment, with
revenue more than tripling to $1.8 billion.
E-commerce is a much bigger business. Last year, sales in China, including
online transactions between businesses, rose to $335 billion from $221
billion in 2012, according to an Alibaba research center.
On an unofficial holiday for single people in November that has turned into
the equivalent of Cyber Monday in the United States, Chinese online retailers
run a huge amount of promotions. Alibaba recorded $5.75 billion in
transactions processed by its online payment system on the sales day this
year.
But Alibaba is not resting on its laurels. In December, the company said it
was investing about $360 million in the Haier Group, one of the biggest
appliance makers in China. The companies said they would set up a logistics
joint venture that would support Alibabas delivery operations. Alibaba also
struck a deal last year with Sina Weibo, the operator of Chinas leading
microblogging platform, that is aimed at countering the popularity of WeChat
and driving more users to Alibabas e-commerce sites. Tencent has
responded with investments of its own, including the purchase of a stake in a
search engine called Sogou. And the company has moved to build up its own
e-commerce capabilities, which include sites like 51Buy and QQ Wanggou, by
adding a payment feature to WeChat.
Tencent said the agreement with China South City would enhance its ecommerce reach. The companies will work together to help small and
midsize companies develop their online retailing operations, they said.
Cooperation with China South City enables us to jointly facilitate such
enterprises migrating online, utilizing China South Citys physical locations
and logistics capabilities, together with Tencents Internet user platforms and
technology capabilities, Martin Lau, the president of Tencent, said in a
statement. In addition to warehouses and other logistical facilities, China South City operates
factory outlet malls featuring brands like Nike and Adidas. Tencent and China South City said
they would explore opportunities for cooperation with respect to online outlet services for
branded goods.Tencent has its headquarters in Shenzhen, where China South City also has its
operations hub.

7. Potential Competition Issues

35

Generally, e-commerce has the potential to increase competition by

enabling
the
development of new services, new distribution channels, and greater
efficiency
in
business
activities. Competition policy issues may arise in relation to joint ventures
to
develop
B2B
electronic marketplaces (e hubs), particularly when they are developed by
existing
market
participants with a significant combined market share (as buyers and sellers)
in
underlying
wholesale markets.
Competition policy issues may arise in relation to eHubs on an ongoing
basis if they appear to have developed sustainable market power resulting
from
network
effects and other factors, and/or engage in strategic acts to preserve or
maintain
their
market power.
Potential issues would include evidence of price fixing or tacit collusion, or
anti-competitive discrimination against, or refusal of access to third parties.
Issues
will
not
arise in all cases, and this will depend on the details in each case. In many
situations
there
will be pro-competitive and other public benefit issues that should be taken
into
account.
A
recent Federal Trade Commission report identified a range of potential
efficiency
gains
that
may accrue from the use of eHubs. They include reductions in
administrative
costs,
reductions in search costs when accessing appropriate trading partners,
creating
new
markets (e.g. markets for surplus stock), economies of scale in joint
purchasing,
and
more
4
effective supply chain management.
Points to be kept in mind
EHubs may be pro competitive and enable the achievement of efficiencies.
They may also provide wider gains to society by encouraging innovation.
Competitive concerns are more likely to arise when a B2B exchange
allows
a
number
of firms on one side of a wholesale market to coordinate transactions
and those firms jointly represent a significant part of the market. The
key question is whether the B2B
36

exchange enables an exercise of market power not previously available

to
participants.
Main issues include the potential for participants to engage in tacit
collusion, exercise of monopsony power or exclusion of third parties.
This may affect competition in the relevant wholesale markets, and in
some cases associated retail markets. In considering whether issues of
tacit collusion are likely to arise it is important to assess if the eHub in
question really changes the underlying nature of transactions
occurring. In some instances it may not, and each case should be
considered individually
eHubs may exhibit network effects, a factor which suggests that a
market will favour one eHub being used. This is a fact of life in such
industries. What is relevant is to assess whether certain firms can
prevent serial competition over time between new entrant eHubs. This
behaviour is more likely from firms which have significant market
presence in underlying wholesale markets.
The question is what to do about it. There may be value in allowing an
incumbent to invest in an eHub, as this may assist in developing such
proposals. However, they should not be allowed to use market power
to affect the competitive process.

37

8. E-commerce and anti-competitive

Agreements
E-commerce may have implications for the nature, prevalence, and
monitoring of a variety of forms of anti-competitive agreements and conduct,
including excessive pricing, collusion, price discrimination, predation, vertical
restraints, and refusal to supply/essential facilities
5.1 Excessive pricing in e-commerce markets
Over the short term, excessive pricing is unlikely to be a major issue for ecommerce companies. Few e-commerce operations are currently making any
profits, let alone excessive profits. Over the longer term, however, excessive
pricing may become a serious concern for those e-commerce companies that
develop dominant positions in their relevant markets.
5.2 Collusion
One of the most widely held competition concerns relating to e-commerce is
that it may facilitate such collusive behaviour. Much of the recent discussion
of this issue has focussed on the development of B2B online marketplaces
that are co-owned by a number of significant market participants. More
generally, there are a number of characteristics of e-commerce that might be
expected to facilitate collusion, even in the absence of joint ventures and
online marketplaces.
38

5.3 Factors that facilitate collusion in E-commerce

Online marketplaces co-owned by market participants Where online
marketplaces are co-owned by market participants, these participants will
naturally communicate about the running of the exchange. Indeed, even an
informal conversation between board members about price levels can
potentially communicate a collusive strategy. Moreover, where an online
marketplace is owned jointly by a number of the main suppliers in a market,
collusion may simply take a different form than it might have done
traditionally.
For example, collusion may be achieved by designing the dynamic pricing
mechanism
so
as
to favour the owners over other market participants. Alternatively, where the
marketplace
is owned by a number of sellers, collusive profits might be collected in the
form
of
fees
charged to buyers for using the marketplace. In all of these cases, collusion
may
be
formal
or tacit.

Chat rooms
There is some concern that chat rooms may become the 21st century
equivalent of
smokefilled rooms. Many of the online marketplaces include chat rooms in
which
market
participants can get together for discussion, without any need to meet up in
person and thus without any need for the diary entries, travel arrangements
or records of phone calls, that often facilitate detection of such meetings.
While some of these chat rooms are public, and thus would be relatively easy
to monitor, others may be private, and reserved for particular market
participants. They could even be carried out via an Extranet, rather than the
Internet, for improved secrecy. Such chat rooms would be very hard to
monitor,
and
the
information would be easy to delete entirely from the chat room server (if
saved
in
the
first
place).
Market transparency
Market transparency can play an important role in supporting collusion, since
it enables
39

competitors both to co-ordinate their prices and to observe cheating on prices

more readily.
Indeed, increased price transparency may facilitate tacit collusion, whereby
competitors
adjust to each others behaviour without any form of explicit agreement.
Non-price information may also be useful in co-ordinating supply decisions.
For example, knowledge of input prices may be useful in determining
whether
price
reductions
by
competitors
are
related to cost changes or due to cheating. Knowledge of input volumes can
provide
important information on competitors expected production levels (and thus
sales).
Similarly, monitoring purchases of production equipment could provide
information
on
competitors capacity. There are a number of characteristics of e-commerce
that may have a significant impact on transparency in the market.
Where all of the sales made in a particular market are transacted via a single
online marketplace, the marketplace will have perfect information on sales
made between market participants. Where the online marketplace is coowned by a number of market participants, there is a risk that detailed
transaction information of this sort could pass from the marketplace to the
participants, unless strict rules are put in place to ensure
confidentiality of data. Even if competitors cannot gain direct access to
detailed transaction information, the marketplace will be in a uniquely good
position
to
put
together
summary
market statistics of key information. In some cases, such information will not
be
anticompetitive, but in other cases it could be, especially if it is current and
relatively
disaggregated. Competition authorities may be required to determine what
sorts
of
statistics may and may not be published.
Where online marketplaces do not provide price and sales data to market
participants
directly, the fact that all sales on such marketplaces are made electronically
may
mean
that
they are relatively public and easy to monitor. Indeed, compared with the
secret
bilateral
negotiations between buyers and sellers that have previously characterised
many
B2B
markets, this ability to monitor sales may imply a dramatic increase in
transparency.
40

Lower search costs

The Internet is likely to bring about low search costs and high price
transparency. When
competitors simply publish their prices on the Internet, it is possible to design
search engines that will monitor prices across different websites, and this will
be
further
facilitated
by the growth of protocols such as XML. Such price transparency may
facilitate collusion.
Internet technology could potentially offer an ideal micro-climate for collusion,
due to
increased communication and transparency in the market, as well as the
potential
for
more
frequent market interactions. In particular, collusion concerns may arise with
respect
to
market design and ownership within both online marketplaces and joint
Internet
sales
ventures.
In order to improve the monitoring of collusion, it might also be useful for
competition
authorities to provide guidance as to the long-term storage of electronic data.
They might also wish to develop their own market-monitoring search engine
software, which might be used to track prices, sales and conversations in chat
rooms,
with
the
aim
of
detecting
evidence of collusive behaviour.
5.4 Impact of e-commerce on the nature of vertical restraints
Vertical restraints are made between independent parties at different points in
a supply chain. The extent to which vertical restraints are used may thus be
affected by any changes to the nature and number of independent parties
that make up each supply chain. E-commerce is likely to affect the supply
chain in three relevant ways.
Integration between parties that was previously separate
Under traditional commerce, the costs of maintaining a network of retail
outlets,
and
the
attractiveness of having a relatively wide range of products within each outlet,
may
have
deterred manufacturers from retailing their own products. The reduced search
costs
41

associated with the Internet mean that customers can more easily be served
from a single website and there may be less need for that site to offer wide
range of products. Thus, in an online environment, more manufacturers may
opt
to
retail
their
own
products.
The
creation of new intermediaries the Internet has given rise to a variety of new
intermediaries, such as portals and online marketplaces, which may sign
restrictive vertical agreements with online buyers and sellers.

Increased power of downstream players

Much of the literature on vertical restraints emphasises the ability of suppliers
to impose
restraints on powerless retailers. Over the last 50 years, such a view of
retailers has become increasingly inappropriate.
The growth of e-commerce may further strengthen the market position of
downstream buyers relative to suppliers. Firstly, lower search and switching
costs will increase the credibility of buyers threats to switch supplier, and thus
increase
their bargaining power.
Secondly, buying clubs and careful market design may also improve their
buying power.
Thirdly, the widening of geographic retail markets may facilitate the
development of global retailers. These will tend to have far greater bargaining
power with suppliers than traditional local or national retailers.
The main potential anti-competitive effects of vertical restraints are market
foreclosure and rising of rivals costs, competition dampening, and facilitation
of collusion.

42

9. E-Retailing in India
The sale of goods and services through the Internet. Electronic retailing, or etailing, can include business-to-business and business-to-consumer sales. Etailing revenue can come from the sale of products and services, through
subscriptions to website content, or through advertising.
It is a play on the words "retail" and "e-commerce."
E-tailing requires businesses to tailor traditional business models to the
rapidly changing face of the Internet and its users. E-tailers are not restricted
solely to the Internet, and some brick-and-mortar businesses also operate
websites to reach consumers. Online retailing is normally referred to as etailing.
It becomes very important to clearly understand different types of commerce
or business commonly called as e-Commerce for E-Retailing.
The major different types of e-commerce are:
1. business-to-business (B2B).
2. business-to-consumer (B2C).
3. consumer-to-consumer (C2C).
4. business-to-government (B2G).
5. mobile commerce (m-commerce).

43

B2B (Business-to-Business): Companies doing business with each other

such as manufacturers selling to distributors and wholesalers selling to
retailers. Pricing is based on quantity of order and is often negotiable.
B2C (Business-to-Consumer): Businesses selling to the general public
typically through catalogs utilizing shopping cart software. By dollar volume,
B2B takes the prize, however B2C is really what the average Joe has in mind
with regards to ecommerce as a whole. Having a hard time finding a book?
Need to purchase a custom, high-end computer system? How about a first
class, all-inclusive trip to a tropical island? With the advent ecommerce, all
three things can be purchased literally in minutes without human interaction.
Oh how far we've come!
C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer): There are many sites offering free
classifieds, auctions, and forums where individuals can buy and sell thanks to
online payment systems like PayPal where people can send and receive
money online with ease. eBay's auction service is a great example of where
person-to-person transactions take place everyday since 1995.

B2G (Business-to-Government): Business-to-government e-commerce or

B2G is generally defined as commerce between companies and the public
sector. It refers to the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing
procedures, and other government-related operations. This kind of ecommerce has two features: first, the public sector assumes a pilot/leading
role in establishing e-commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public
sector has the greatest need for making its procurement system more
effective.
Mobile Commerce(M-Commerce): M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the
buying and selling of goods and services through wireless technology-i.e.,
handheld devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants
(PDAs). Japan is seen as a global leader in m-commerce. As content delivery
over wireless devices becomes faster, more secure, and scalable, some
believe that m-commerce will surpass wireline e-commerce as the method of
choice for digital commerce transactions. This may well be true for the AsiaPacific where there are more mobile phone users than there are Internet
users.

E-Retailing A Briefing
44

To start an e-Retailing business, an organization or an individual should have

the below.
1. A Unique Idea / Product to sell
When all Personal computer assemblers sell PCs and Servers in a traditional
way, Michael Saul Dell, founder CEO of Dell Inc., got a unique idea of selling
PCs over web. Beyond this he allowed users to choose all components one
by one based on their interests and requirements and delivered a
assembled PC over web, which was a grand success.
2. A Perfect Business Plan
Is all about the e-Retailing business idea, Product or services, people
involved, their expertise, a Project report with all standard projected
statements prepared by a professional team, Competitor analysis, Capital
investment, Loans, Business location, Government regulations & policies,
Technology plans, and IT infrastructure required.
3. Technology Plans
Organization may start off in a small way and then based on the response
they can get more funding and grow in a big way.
They need to finalize an attractive easy to remember domain
name
e.g.
www.dell.com .

Need to finalize a hosting server to book web space from their

various plans e.g. www.Hostmonster.com to start with and later go
for
their
own
scalable
IT
infrastructure setup based on the response and growth.

Need to Acquire IT team for developing e-Commerce website or to

outsource the work. Also we can think of using Open source like OS
Commerce a popular e-Commerce application and Open source CRM
application
for
customer
relationship.
If we are going to develop from the scratch on our own technology, the
below
website
development process will be followed as per Fig. 3. Web site development
process.
Compare and finalize Payment gateway based on their initial setup fee /
transaction
fee the popular payment gateway service providers are CC Avenue, ICICI, Bill
desk, Pay pal and few more players.

Once the website is launched, related internet marketing, popularly

called
as
SEO
(search engine optimization) work to be started to increase the popularity and
visitors of the site.
45


Plan and organize supply chain management to deliver product or
service
to
the
online users who place orders.
Post sales support plans.
4. E-Retailers Back Office Management
There will be a huge team working on the back end systems of the web site
which is called as control panel / system admin.
In which a group of people will be updating the product categories,
products, prices, specifications and many other information before its
getting listed in the website.
Other than this to attract more users, the Marketing team will often send
mailers / newsletters by giving more offers.
5. Payment Gateway
Now the e-Retailers web site is ready with products listed and when the
online users orders the product online, the Retailers should link the Bank
account with 3rd party payment gateway, to which the payment will be
credited.
6. How An E-Commerce Site Works
Normally a user will get to know about a online shopping web site through
many ways, most frequently all online users will find websites on the go by
using Google search or any other search engines.
When they see the web site information link, they click to it, complete the
website registration process if any, choose the products they are interested,
compare similar products specification cost etc., and confirm the items
selected and finalize the invoice and make payment via their debit card /
credit card bank account or via Pay Pal or Google checkout.
Once the payment is received the merchant will receive the payment, start
processing the order, and ship the product to the users delivery / shipping
address.
Further if the product is carrying warranty, post sales support and service
should be facilitated to the customer in order to create good word of mouth
and get a good returning customer base which is the key success factor for
the e-Retailer.
Let me illustrate the buying process in the image below:

46

1. Online visitor of the site, will pick up the items to be purchased.

2. Confirming / finalizing the item list selected and checkout.
3. Enter the credit / debit card / Pay Pal information to make the payment.
4. User payment information is getting checked with banker via payment
gateway and once its authenticated.
5.
The payment will be credited to retailer account and an Order
confirmation is shown to the visitor along with order details and shipping
information.
6. The visitor will also be notified on the purchase made via email.
7. The visitor will be able to track their order status and an SMS / email
update will be frequently sent to visitor on the product or service delivery.

E-Retailing Website Design And Launching Process

47

Once the Retailers business model and web site design layout is
finalized.
The
software consulting and development team will start
developing the site.
They will create all product categories, price, specifications and other details;
put it in a test site for unit and integration testing.
Once the testing is over, its being handed over to retailer for their
acceptance testing. Once the retailer is satisfied with the performance of the
web site; upon getting acceptance; the web site is moved to production
server.Now the Retailer will initiate the web site promotional activity in order
to get more visitors and generate revenue

Government Regulations In Retail

48

For the growth e-commerce, Indian government is taking necessary steps

through effective Telecom policies, introduced Information Technology IT
ACT to create necessary legal and administrative framework.
To build the confidence among common public to increase online business,
The CCA (Controller of Certifying Authority) has created PKI (Public Key
Infrastructure) i.e. for electronic authentication via digital signatures. This
will avoid cyber space crimes and dont let anybody unpunished.
To increase the use of internet, our government has taken various steps to
reduce cost and offer attractive plans for corporate and end users with high
speed communication services getting increased day by day based on the
demand. This will drive e-commerce transactions to huge growth in eRetailing sector. For goods or services delivered still there are few confusions
in customs duty, State and central sales tax, VAT, excise etc., This has to be
clearly spell out by the government.
To make e-commerce successful on regional level, we require mutual trust
worthy environment. All the countries are having independent and separate
Legal Framework in place.
To enable mutual recognition of various countries Legal Framework, an
International Legal Framework is necessary. Electronic commerce security
planning and management calls for identification of the users, better risk
assessment and evaluation, application specific security identification, better
and appropriate network security policies, information resources
protection, better security management policies, retransformation and reskilling human resources in terms of identifying roles and responsibilities and
improving physical and environmental security.
The trans-border data flow also cause serious concerns about authorization
control, better audit trails, the countrys legal laws and secure technology
restrictions for developing nations, calls for supporting e-laws, better
consumer education, better network management, cooperative regional and
multilateral agreements between nations.
The delivery mechanisms and transportation should be tuned with
appropriate modernization of clearing services of goods and products within
and across the nations.
Other difficulties associated with the IT Act relate to the cyber crimes which
are not fully covered are an area of concern for the growth of e-commerce. In
this context it is also argued that Law Enforcement Agencies are not fully
equipped and trained to deal in cyber crimes. Safeguards to protect privacy
of personal and business data collected over the Internet are not covered
49

under the Act. Also the IT Act is silent on the issue of protection of
intellectual rights (patents, trademarks, copyrights) including domain
names. Finally, payment gateways have to evolve to a level that inter-bank
settlement should be enabled through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS).
These are some of the barriers that have been identified and have to be
overcome, in addition to achieving higher Internet and PC penetration, for the
growth of e-commerce.
Despite all these economical, political and social situations, Indian Retail
Sector is growing and becoming huge. Here is a list of top retailer in India.
Day by day the list is growing and there is a heavy competition in improving
their operations and service to customers.

Lifestyle
RPG Retail
Pantaloon Group
Provogue
Reliance Fresh
Globus
Reliance World
Spencer's Retail
Trent (Westside)
Crossword

Internet Marketing For E-Retailing

Engine
Optimization

/ Search

Around the world all organizations have their websites; few of them generate
more visibility and revenue.

50

For a web store / e-Retailing site, we need to study the business and
marketing goals, and then pick / find the best keywords matching the
products and services listed in our website.
Based on the Keyword analysis we need to build quality unique content for
the store which will make the store to gain good ranking among the search
engines. While publishing the content blended with product listing, we need
to ensure that competitor web store strategies are analyzed and considered.
Now its the time to plan for the sitemap, which is all about when a visitor is
browsing our site, they should feel easy to navigate to all pages of the site
without any difficulties. On the other side the site navigation should be
developed as a RSS feed which is search engine friendly i.e. the site map will
be read by the search engine crawler and got indexed, which results in good
search results.
After building the sitemap, we start building the static and dynamic web
pages with unique content. Each page should be optimized (On page
optimization) so that search engine ranks the page; on completing this
process. We need submit our site URL /
sitemap feed to all popular search engines viz., Google, Yahoo, MSN etc.,
After submitting the site, we need to have plans to index our site in popular
directories, classified sites. And then start indexing in social book marking
sites. Now a days the most popular sites Face book, Linked in and Twitter
were few and there are 1000s of other book marking sites, in which we
need to update our store information in relevant categories or Tags.
There are few sites which offers code snippet e.g. www.addthis.com by which
we display links which will make the visitors to index a specific page to all
popular social book marking sites, then email this page to friend, link to face
book and twitter
While doing this book marking, another unique promotional activity is to
create blogs for the site and submit n. number of articles about our site /
products / services in www.articlebase.com, www.ezinearticles.com and
many others. This will also drive more inbound traffic to our website.
51

Beyond this Link exchange (inbound / outbound links) to our site will decide
our page ranking i.e. our site is listed in 1st search result page of Google,
Yahoo and MSN and others.
To ensure maximum success, we need to review the above processes often
and keep on working will be a proven organic search engine optimization
work; which will bring in more traffic to our website.
By implementing free Google Analytics in our site, we can generate excellent
SEO report as and when required and be updated with our effort vs. results.
Below process will elaborate further on the same with key informations.

52

E-Retailing Initiative Questionnaire

I was thinking from an organization point to view on how to start with an
e-Retailing web site initiative as discussed above, find below the
questionnaire to be filled out and then discuss with the IT company to
progress further.
A.

Web Development Questionnaire

Name:
___________________________________________________________________
Age:
a) 20- 30
b) 30-40
c) 40-50
Above 50

d)

1)

In which professions are you engaged?

a) Business
c) Student
b) Government Employee
d) Private Employee

2)

What is the purpose of your Website?

a) Informational
c) Direct Sales(Shopping Cart)
b) Indirect Sales

3)

Will you be providing the copy (text) for Website?

a) Yes
c) Partial
b) No

4)

Will you be providing Graphics/Logos for your Website?

a) Yes
c) Partial
b) No

53

5)

B)

Additional Media ?
a) Flash
b) Animated Images

c) Streaming Video
d) Streaming Audio

6)

Site Maintenance , how often will the site need to be updated?

a) Daily
b) Weekly
c) Monthly
d) Yearly

7)

Is there a Need to update the Website?

a) Yes
b) No

8)

Will you accept an investment which is both profitable and risky?

a) Yes
b) No
c) May accept

9)

Additional Features on your Website?

a) Photo Gallery
c)Classified Ads
b) Forum
d) Blogs

10)

Which Payment Gateways you want to use on the Website?

a) Paypal
c) DirectPay
b) EBS
d) CC Avenue
Business Website Development Questionnaire

The purpose of this document is to provide Planet Media with a basic outline
for determining your website design, Development and online marketing
objectives. If certain items are not applicable, please leave them out
however; please be as complete as possible. Our goal is to fully
understand your project requirements and provide the Optimum solution to
make your project a success.
Goals of website
What are the primary goals of the site? (Check all that apply)
_ To increase public awareness of your companys name, brand, or identity _
To strengthen your position in the marketplace
_ To develop a list of qualified prospects
_ To gain an increase in sales
_ To sell products directly taking credit card information over the Internet _ To
make product information available to customers and/or distributors _ Others
(describe below)
54

Who are the primary and secondary audiences? What types of people do you
want to attract? (Describe interests, Needs, skills, age range, income,
geographic location, and lifestyles. What motivates this audience?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What's the key message you want the site to communicate? What is the
second most important message? Please explain why this message is
important.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What information will change? (How often will it change? How extensively)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What existing images and photos are available? (Are the images digital,
do they need to be scanned? Or is everything going to be created new?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What outcome will make this project successful? How will you measure that
the site is successful?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------How have you advertised in the past? What medium? Was it successful?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------55

Please describe your products and/or services.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Compare your products or services to the competition. Why are your products
better? Why do people choose your products over the competition?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What are your plans to promote the site? (Check all that apply)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_ Networking
_ Referrals
_ Printed directory listings
_ Magazine/newspaper
_ Direct mail
_ Telemarketing
_ Email
_ Search engine and directory listings
_ Search engine advertising e.g. Google Ad Words or Overture
_ Other
List your competitors websites. What do you like about them? Describe how
your company is different than the Competitor:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Please list 3 favorite websites, for whatever reason. Briefly describe why you
like them:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------What content do you want in your site? (Check all that apply)
_ List of products or services
_ Product or service catalogue including details for each item _ Ordering
facility
56

_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_

Payment facility
booking facility
Calendar or diary
Information about the business - its history and structure _ Client list
Testimonials
Case studies
Project portfolio
Helpful hints or trade secrets
Articles
User guides
Contact details
Inquiry form
Mailing list subscription form
How to find us instructions and/or map
News
Newsletter subscription
Press releases
Whats new on the web site
Links to other relevant web sites
A directory of businesses
Search facility
Downloadable white papers or forms (PDF)
E-books
Message board or discussion forum
Chat room
Blog
Audio or video
Password protected pages for clients/members only _ Job vacancies
Job application forms
Third party advertising
Other

Additional Considerations: (check all that apply)

_ Content Management
_ Database design or management
_ E-commerce or online shopping
_ E-learning or online classes
_ Online Order Forms
_ Animated Graphics
_ Audio
_ Video
_ Flash/Shockwave Animation
Marketing and Search Engine Optimization: (check all that apply) _
Registration with the top search engines
57

_ Pay per Click Advertising (Google Ad Words)

_ creating an e-mail newsletter
If you are redesigning your existing web site, what is the current URL?
http://
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Type of Website
_ Business
_ Personal
Purpose of Website
_ Informational
_Direct Sales (shopping cart)

We appreciate you taking the time to complete this form. It will prove in
valuable to us in providing an accurate picture of your web development
requirements

Conclusion & Future Work

Now that we have reviewed all basic information about e-Commerce specific
to e-Retailers and the challenges, advantages and disadvantages. From the
government point of view, it has to take effective steps to resolve all
barriers or disadvantages for e-commerce growth create opportunities
for private, public participation in infrastructure development.
Similarly all our public organizations should plan ahead to train our Indian
business community to learn more about the future business opportunities to
compete global competition and towards our countries growth.
My future study is to plan, research and come out with strategic plans which
are more realistic, easy to adopt and implement across the country which will
resolve most of the prevailing issues.

58

10. Approach To Improve Quality of ECommerce

E-Commerce is the future of
the businesses of the 21 st Century. ECommerce is the purpose of Internet and the web to conduct business. ECommerce is the process of buying and selling of various products,
services and information by businesses through the Internet. It deals with
various kind of business concern, from retail site of the consumer, which
includes auction.
The main focus is to concentrate on business substitutes involving goods
and services between various corporations as well as with consumers. ECommerce is having so many benefits. But it is having so many quality
issues also. Now the need arise to redefine the quality in the applications of
59

the web sites as well as the implementation issues that become hurdle in ECommerce business activities. E-Commerce web sites are finding the solutions.
We propose Total Quality Management (TQM) as the solution. TQM is defined
as both a philosophy and a set of guiding principles that represent the
foundation of a continuously improving organization. It is a customer
driven philosophy wherein the stress is on customer delight. Its application to
information technology, especially in E-Commerce, is a recent trend. TQM
has a vast potential to generate the improvements in the process of ECommerce. TQM focuses on meeting the needs of the customer. TQM is not
inspection, but actually the prevention of defects. It involves everyone in the
organization.

GLOBAL SCENARIO
a. Internet Users World Statistics :(*Data for Population and Internet Users is in Crore)
Table 1: Asia Vs. World Internet Usage AND Population
Statistics.
The success of the E-Commerce is depend on the internet
US

EUROPE

ASIA

REST OF
THE WORLD

Population

31.32

81.64

387.97

188.65

Internet
Users

24.50

50.07

101.68

47.66

60

Penetration
%
Users %

78.20%

61.30%

26.20%

11.60%

22.1%

44.8%

25.27%
21.5%

E-Commerce Quality Issues

The above values give the clear cut picture that something is going wrong in
the implementation process of E-Commerce in India. Why E-Commerce is not
able to create importance in the mind of Indian people? Do they expect
some quality issues to resolve to accept E-Commerce or something more
than that? The following section discuss these quality issues based on some
major types of E-Commerce.
Types of E-Commerce:
There are five basic types of E-Commerce:
1. B2C - Business to Consumer
2. B2B - Business to Business
61

3. C2C - Consumer to Consumer

4. B2E - Business to Employee
5. C2B - Consumer to Business
1. Business to Consumer (B2C)
B2C is the model taking businesses and consumers interaction. It is the
indirect trade between the company and consumers. The basic concept of
this model is to sell the product online to the consumers.
Example: Amazon.com
Quality Issues:
1.1 Information asymmetry :
Defraud money from customers without sending out goods, or the good quality
is less than a pre-agreed standard. The TQM sub-characteristics accuracy
allows
how
well
software
achieves correct or agreeable results and data on web sites.
1.2 Payment Issues:
Many time retailers force to pay first before delivery of the product because
cash-on-delivery is not possible every time. So the complete risk shifts
to customer. The TQM sub-characteristics Flexibility propose the
Atkinsons Flexible firm model that can solve the payment issues of the
customers.
1.3 Security Issues:
When customer provides his credit card information, this can become one of
the risk to the customer because anybody can figure it out from his credit card
number. The Deming Method of TQM is based on fourteen obstacles to
productivity and is being adapted as Total Quality Management of
Security (TQMS).

1.4 Privacy:
Collecting personal information through registration which is unnecessary for
transaction and business. The TQM sub-characteristics Client Support
propose Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) in with Personal Consumer
Information Cost (PCIC) index.
1.5 Time of Delivery:
It would be nice to receive an item when customer plans not just when the retailer plan to ship it and even the customer dont get the
product on time also. The TQM characteristics Time Behavior propose
62

implementation of time attributes like latency, throughput, processor time

requirements, real time response and so on.
2. Business to Business (B2B)
B2B is the largest form of E-commerce. This model defines that Buyer and
seller are two different entities. It is similar to manufacturer issuing goods
to
the
retailer
or
wholesaler.
Example: Dell computers.
Quality Issues:
2.1 Strategic Change:
A change in a firms business system can be an operational or a strategic
process. A balance of both is necessary. TQM propose the Changeability
Model for how to implement the change in organizations.
2.2 Lack of cooperation:
Many managers are quick to note the minor problemseven
those with obvious causes became conflicts individuals and the linked firms
becomes uncooperative. TQM provides the formula to calculate the Reliability
for correcting quality cost areas by prevention, appraisal, internal failure,
external failure, morale, etc
2.3 Competitive or defensive behaviors:
When B2B personnel detect costly problems, they often engage
in
competitive
or
defensive
behaviors
rather
than taking a more
collaborative or problem-solving stance. TQM suggest understandability and
learnability as a problem solving approach in day to day business activities.
2.4 Social conflicts:
Social problem we find exists entirely between individuals. An
example of such interpersonal problems is when two businesses having
cultural and social norms. TQM adaptability model gives the guidelines to
solve the social and cultural conflicts.

3. Consumer to Consumer (C2C)

C2C Consumers are no longer totally reliant on corporations and
are increasingly looking to conduct their own business transactions. It helps
the online dealing of goods or services among people.
Example: eBay's auction service
63

Quality Issues:
3.1 C2C platform is likely to be misused:
Any C2C platform is likely to be misused. It is true that in the interest of
Electronic Commerce, the C2C auction sites are not to be discouraged nor
targeted by Police. TQM suggests digital signature, authentication and other
solutions in client support sub-characteristics.
3.2 Taxation:
Tax authorities world over are examining the tax implications of Ecommerce
transactions
and
resolving mechanisms to tax such
transactions. TQM suggest the standardization in every area of ECommerce by sub-characteristics in the products like maturity, installability,
adaptability and replaceability.
3.3 Lack of Due Diligence:
One of the strong point of the current law which requires "Due Diligence ie.
making sure you get what you think you are paying for. Suitability and
accuracy in data can make the services prominent with the help of
analyzability and testability models to identify the root cause of failure of
customer expectations.
4. Business to Employee (B2E)
B2E Portal is an interactive "self-service work environment". The
service will offer direct access to a string of relevant tools and information,
including
workplace
communication, training services, financial services, travel services, industry
news, stock quotes, and e-commerce.
Quality Issues:
4.1 Narrow Mindset:
The success of B2E Portal is depend on
the companies amount of
required freedom to the employees. TQM provides the list of benefits of
the organization through the benefits
provided
to
employees
as
customers. Efficiency Characteristics of TQM provide guidelines how to
improve the efficiency of the employees for the benefit of the
organization with the satisfaction of both.
4.2 Absence of theme that employee is the first customer of
business:
Companies cant expect to purchase products if their own employees dont
purchase it. The flexibility characteristics specifies the importance of the
64

employee as the first customer as well as it suggests some to form the policies
by considering the employees as internal customer.
4.3 Absence of evaluation method to check the usage of employee
portal:
When organization invest on B2E implementation, it thinks about the return
on investments out of it and as there is no method evolve to measure the
benefit in monitory terms. Personal Consumer Information Cost (PCIC)
index helps to find out the Return On Investment (ROI) of Portal.
5. Consumer to Business (C2B)
A consumer posts his project with a set budget online and within hours
companies review the consumer's requirements and bid on the project. The
consumer reviews the bids and selects the company that will complete the
project.
Quality Issues:
5.1 Deficiencies in buying confirmation Process:
Billing is not straightforward without creating a company. For companies to
pay individuals is not straightforward either. The purchase process
performance sub-characteristics of TQM relates for assessing, controlling and
predicting the extent to which the web site product in purchase procedure
with continuous improvement in performance.
5.2 Varied languages, currencies and locations:
Governments always concern on the outflow of the foreign currency. Social
factors like influence of language and symbols used in the site also creates
impact on the site visit and purchase decision of the customer. TQM suggests
the learnability can result in reducing errors, defects, waste, and related
costs.
5.3 High fees for low payments:
The options to pay the fee, but that are very expensive. Interoperability
suggests to create a tree of companies online which is very similar to banks
where we can make the transactions through any ATM rather than getting the
services from same banks.
CONCLUSION
E-Commerce is considered an excellent alternative for companies to reach
new customers for business. A business that is run over the Internet is like any
other business when it comes to effective organization, product quality,
customer satisfaction and employee relations issues. The efforts should start
65

from finding out the quality norms in E-Commerce. TQM is the best solution to
understand the problems and the way how to solve it.

11. Future Trends

Status of e-commerce in India
Today E-commerce is a byword in Indian society and it has become an
integral
part
of
our
daily life. There are websites providing any number of goods and services.
Then
there
are
those, which provide a specific product along with its allied services. Indian
E-commerce
portals provide goods and services in a variety of categories. To name a
few:
Apparel
and
accessories for men and women, Health and beauty products , Books
and
magazines,
Computers
and
peripherals,
Vehicles,
Software,
Consumer
electronics,
Household
appliances, Jewelry, Audio/video, entertainment, goods, Gift articles,
Real
estate
and
services .
Some Indian portals/websites deal in a specialized field, for example:
1) Automobiles- On these sites we can buy and sell fourwheelers and twowheelers,
new
as
well as used vehicles, online. Some of the services they provide are: Car
research
and
reviews, online evaluation, Technical specifications, Vehicle Insurance, Vehicle
Finance.
2) Stocks and shares and e-commerce- In India today, we can even deal
in stocks and shares through e-commerce. Some of the services offered to
registered members are: Online buying/selling of stocks and shares,
Market analysis and research, Company information, Comparison of
companies, Research on Equity and Mutual Funds.

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3) Real estate and e-commerce- They provide information on new

properties as well as properties for resale. One can deal directly with
developer through consultant. Allied services:
Housing
Finance,
Insurance companies, Architects & Interior Designers, NRI services,
Packers & Movers.
4) Travel & tourism and e-commerce- India has a rich history and
heritage and e-commerce is instrumental, to a large extent, in selling India as
a product, encouraging Indians as well as foreigners to see its multifaceted
culture and beauty. The tourist destination sites are categorized
according to themes like: Adventure - trekking, mountain climbing etc,
EcoThemes pertains to jungles, flora and fauna.
5) Gifts and e-commerce- In the bygone days, one had to plan what to
gift a loved one, trudge across to your favourite shop, and browse for
hours before purchasing a gift. The gifts are categorized as: Collectibles like
paintings and sculptures, Luxury items like leather goods, perfumes,
jewellery boxes, etc, household curios and carpets, etc, Toys & games,
Chocolates, Flowers, Woodcraft.

6) Hobbies and e-commerce- The most popular hobbies from time

immemorial
are
reading,
music and films. The books cover a wide range of topics like Business,
Art,
Cookery,
Engineering, Childrens Stories, Health, Medicine, Biographies, Horror, Home &
Garden, etc.
7) Matrimony and E- commerce- It is said that marriages are made in
heaven, but in the world of E-commerce they are made on marriage
portals One can search for a suitable match on their websites by region of
residence (India or abroad), religion or caste. Allied services for registered
members: Astrological services, Information on Customs and Rituals, Legal
issues, Health & Beauty, Fashion & Style, Wedding
8)
Employment
and
e-commerceTwo
major portals like
www.Monsterindia.com and www.naukri.com (meaning job.com in Hindi) are
instrumental in providing job seekers with suitable employment at the click
of a mouse. The service for job seekers is free and for Employers they
charge a nominal fee. Jobs are available online in fields ranging from
secretarial to software development, and from real estate to education
lanners.

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Scope in E-commerce :
Indian e-commerce market may touch $ 260 billion by 2025: Report
MUMBAI:
The domestic e-commerce market has the potential to grow between $ 125
billion and $ 260 billion by 2024-25, according to an industry report.
The'E-commerce Report:
Says urban Indian consumers are now confident enough to make online
purchases of up to Rs 25,000, from Rs 2,000- 5,000 in the recent past.
It also says that even though there are only under-10 million internet users
who actually buy online in India, there are about 150 million internet users or
around 75 million households that are 'ready' for e-commerce.
According to the report, almost 57 per cent of e-commerce sales come
from small towns, while the eight metros account for the remainder.
Current e-commerce market in India is around $ 10 billion, while US ecommerce market is set to touch $ 200 billion in 2013, growing at 17 per
cent.

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Statistical progress of E-commerce over the years

Career Opprtunities in E-commerce

As stated previously, the e-commerce industry will continue to grow in the
future. Therefore, it is a great opportunity for college students, recent
graduates or any Internet savvy individual to begin gaining experience.
Companies will normally look for candidates with several years of managerial
or project management experience as well as skills using information
technology systems or the Internet in general.

IT companies
E-commerce companies
Online marketing Companies
Social media marketing
Search Engine Optimization
E-commerce Product manager
and many more opportunites
Service sector (Banking, Finance, Product - service selling)

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All sectors in these times need a lot of E-commerce support and hence
widening the scope for E-Commerce Industry. Because every industry,
has discovered a great way towards progress which is "E-commerce"

List of Top E-Commerce Companies of India

1) ASA Systel Communications Pvt Ltd:
It is a leading E-commerce company in India which provides innovative and
superb
quality
web services which encompasses the building of e-commerce related
websites
and
portals.
The company also uses the latest payment modes and security. The company
has
its
offices
in Chennai, Lucknow and will shortly set up offices in Delhi, Mumbai,
Kathmandu, Bhopal.
2) Candid Info:
This Indian E-commerce company is based in New Delhi. It is a
renowned Offshore Outsource Web designing development e-commerce
Company. It offers off shore web development, designing, and SEO solutions
for large corporations and SME's.
3) Chenab Information Technologies Private Limited:
This E-commerce company in India comprises of web enabled business
and web bases services, airline and security systems by using the internet
technologies and tools of the state of the art. The company has three
Software Development centers in Mumbai and the overseas branch office in
New York.
4) Euro link Systems Limited:
This leading E-commerce company provides consulting and e-business
solutions, FlexTCA Systems, Trillium Protocol services to the global community.
The company has its office in England, U.S, Switzerland, and India with
about 200 employee strength.
5) HashPro Technologies:
It
offers
e-business
and
traditional
analysis,
development,
implementation, design and strategic planning. It is a leader in the provider
of integrated talent management software organization in India. It is key
technology consulting provider. It renders services like the E-commerce
Hosting, Internet Marketing and Human Resources. The e-Workforce
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initiative of the company will enable the company to become a

percent e-Corporation.

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6) Compare Info Base:

The company is leading provider of e-commerce portals and IT solutions.
The company manages about 1500 websites and portals with 4000
domain names. It has web presence in Maps, SoftwareDevelopment,
GISTravel, Education, Media, and Greetings etc. It specializes in Content
development services, Website development services; PHP Programming &
Development etc. It has its office in Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.
7) Sanver E-solutions:
This Company is based in Mumbai. They believe that Information
Technology is a way to the business objectives. It is an IT consulting and
Solutions Provider which offers personalized and personal business
solutions using Information and Communication Technology.
8) Planet Asia:
This E-commerce company in India uses track record and deep experience in
externalized applications to produce high quality B2SPEC(Business to
Partner, Supplier, Customer) solutions to global enterprises.
9) Candid Web Technology:
This fast growing E-Commerce Company in India is a provider of Com Web
Solutions for the design and development of dynamic web sites .The clients of
the e-commerce company spans from the small scale companies to corporate
organizations.
10) Trisoft Design:
Trisoft Systems is a software services company that offers solutions
exclusively on the Microsoft Platform to customers worldwide. 10 years of
experience on the Microsoft Platform puts the company at the forefront of
.Net Technology.

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Benefits of E-Commerce to Businesses

There is a growing awareness among the business community in
India
about
the
opportunities offered by ecommerce. Ease of Internet access and navigation
are
the
critical
factors that will result in rapid adoption of Net commerce. Safe and secure
payment
modes
are crucial too along with the need to invent and popularize innovations such
as Mobile
Commerce. India Reports provides accurate and easy to understand India
specific reports that capture trends, map business landscapes and custommade reports for specific needs. The other reports available on India Reports
are on retail, outsourcing, tourism, food and other emerging sectors in India.
Easy reach to a fast growing online community .
Unlimited shelf place for products and services.

Fuse the global geographical and time zone Boundaries.

Helps reach national and global markets at low operating costs.

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Research studies have indicated several factors responsible for the sudden
spurt in growth of Ecommerce in India such as:

Rapidly increasing Internet user base Technology advancements such

as
VOIP
(Voiceover-IP) have bridged the gap between buyers and sellers online
The emergence of blogs as an avenue for information dissemination and
two-way
communication for online retailers and eCommerce vendors
Improved fraud prevention technologies that offer a safe and secure
business
environment and help prevent credit card frauds, identity thefts and
phishing

Bigger web presence of SMEs and Corporate because of lower

marketing
and
infrastructure costs.

Future of E-Commerce in India

Today, we are talking about e-commerce progress level of India, the
seventh-largest
by
geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous
democracy
in
the world. Indian ecommerce space percentage is getting higher as more
and
more
online
retailers enter the market.
Although this level of entry in the e-commerce market is good
from a long term perspective, the challenge is that most entrepreneurs
dont
have
the
resources or capital to wait for years before they can get profits .The past 2
years
have
seen
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a rise in the number of companies' embracing e-commerce technologies and

the
Internet
in
India.
Most e-commerce sites have been targeted towards the NRI's with Gift
delivery
services, books, Audio and videocassettes etc. Major Indian portal sites
have
also
shifted
towards e-commerce instead of depending on advertising revenue. The web
communities
built around these portal sites with content have been effectively targeted to
sell
everything
from event and movie tickets the grocery and computers. This is not to
say
that
the
ecommerce scenario has been bad in India as highly successful e-business
like
baba
bazaar
and India mart have proved.
Indian Banks too have been very successful in adapting EC and
EDI Technologies to provide customers with real time account status,
transfer
of
funds
between current and checking accounts, stop payment facilities. ICICI Bank,
Global
TRUST
BANK AND UTI-Bank also have put their electronic banking over the
internet facilities in place for the upcoming e-commerce market speed
post also plan to clone the federal express story with online package
status at any moment in time.
The future does look very bright for e-commerce in India with even the
stock exchanges coming online providing a online stock portfolio and status
with a fifteen minute delay in prices. The day cannot be far when with RBI
regulations will able to see stock transfer and sale over the Net with
specialized services.

Upcoming Trend
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Internet Penetration:
With an exponential increase in internet usage, theres an increasing PC and broadband
penetration, coupled with the declining prices of PCs. Tablets and smartphones have given a new
meaning to connectivity and user experience. The adoption of 3G and upcoming 4G technology,
along with the declining prices of smartphones, is expected to result in an additional increase in
internet usage in the country. Improvements on the payment front have brought about the
increasing use of plastic money by Indian consumers. Payment gateways have now been made
more secure through multiple levels of authentication via one-time passwords (OTPs). This has
helped strengthen users confidence in carrying out online transactions.
M-Commerce:
India has more than900 million mobile users, of which around 300 million use data services.
Thisis expected to grow 1200 million by 2015. Also, more than 100 millionmobile users are
expected to use 3G and 4G connectivity in the coming few years. Of the total 90 million mobile
users, only 27 million are active on theInternet. Moreover, only 4 per cent of the active mobile
internet users buyproducts through mobiles. However, mobile shopping is on upward trend and
isexpected to increase fivefold to 20 percent in the medium term.
FDI in E-Commerce sector:
Presently the Indian Government has allowed 100 per cent FDI in B2B e-commerce, while
business-to-consumer (B2C) is prohibited. In addition to that theres a compulsory 30 percent
local sourcing norms for foreign players.
Companies like Amazon, eBay, and Tesco are coaxing and holding meetings with the DIPP to
invest in an emerging market India. They have even been investing some of the local start-ups
here like Amazon entered India via Junglee.com.
The news that Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has started consultations
with stakeholders on allowing foreign direct investment in retail e-commerce before the end of
this financial year, has nonetheless raised our expectations of expansion of Indian E-Commerce
industry.

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E-commerce is a new dream for India Inc

Name a business segment which is a decade old, all players, big or
small, are losing money and yet investors are ready to pump in
more and more funds.

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Confused? It is the online retail business or online retail e-commerce (e-com).

The 50-player retail e-com is growing at over 40 per cent a year, every
month around five new ones jump on to the bandwagon and investors keep
cutting cheques with a hope that there is a pot of gold at the end of the road.
Take the case of Indias largest retail e-com company Flipkart.com which
recently raised $20 million in its third round of funding from a venture capital
(VC), valuing it in excess of Rs 1,000 crore. Though the company has already
raised $31 million, there are rumours that a very large VC fund is planning to
invest another $150 million in the company raising its valuations to $1 billion
or Rs 5,000 crore.
Then there are others like Myntra.com which raised $40 million, Indiaplaza
that raised $8 million so far, and daily deals site Snapdeal.coms parent
Jasper Infotech that recently raised $40 million from VCs. Even global majors
like eBay.com (entered six years ago) and Amazon.com are present in the
Indian space.
Large Indian off-line groups like Future and Times of India are also in the fray.
It is estimated that even after investing $300 million in the Indian retail ecom space, VCs are looking out for more exciting ideas with a bagful of
money. It is estimated that around 20,000 deal transactions and 50,000
product transactions happen every day from the top 10 retail e-com sites.
Why are VCs so bullish on e-com? Will it be another bubble like the burst of
dot.com companies in the early 2000s? Early stage venture funding company
Accel Partners, which has invested in half-a-dozen e-com companies does not
think so. We are very bullish on the future potential of the Indian retail ecom market. Buying online is catching up fast and all our funded companies
are gaining traction as planned, said Accel Partners Partner Prashanth
Prakash.
Drivers of growth
E-com companies and experts believe that several factors will drive eretailing growth in India. According to a recent report from Internet and
Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), total Indian market for e-com is around
Rs 50,000 crore, of which 80 per cent or Rs 40,000 crore is captured by
travel e-commerce (online train, bus and airline tickets) while non-travel or
retail e-com is only 20 per cent or Rs 10,000 crore.
Experts hope that by the year 2025, the total e-com market will reach at
least Rs 4,00,000 crore and the share of retail will be half at Rs 2,00,000
crore. It is this kind of market predictions that is making everyone sit up and
make a note, said Indiaplaza Founder and CEO K Vaitheeswaran.
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Indiaplaza, now one of the top 10 e-com companies in the country, has been
around for nearly a decade and re-invented its business model to become a
pure play e-retailer. One of the major reasons why e-com has grown very fast
in the last 2 to 3 years, Vaitheeswaran believes, is the tremendous growth in
internet penetration which has now reached 100 million as against only 3
million in 2001. Earlier only around 1 per cent of internet users were
shopping online, now about 8 per cent or 8 million shop online, said
Vaitheeswaran.
With the phenomenal spread of mobile telephony and the advent of 3G in the
country, buyers from small towns and cities are also buying online in large
numbers. It is a fact that internet has dissolved the discrimination factor
between the small and the big cities enabling buyers from small towns to
have access to the same branded goods, and quality products which earlier
was a privilege of large city buyers.
As the economic boom has enhanced purchasing power of the people and
competition has pushed prices of manufactured products down, presently, a
huge number of shoppers are buying many aspirational products like
cameras, mobiles, computers & accessories, apparels, jewellery, home &
kitchen appliances, toys, gift items etc online. Till about five years ago, books
and music were the largest selling categories online, but not any more.
Says Myntra.com CEO Mukesh Bansal, Thanks to the spread of internet,
even small town buyers are shopping online for branded products from us.
Normally big brands dont have outlets in small towns, and even if they do,
stocks and varieties are limited. Myntras online store, on the other hand,
sells all top branded apparels and sports shoes with a wide variation in style,
size and price.
Around 60 per cent of online buying now comes from the top 10 cities and 40
per cent from smaller towns, said Prakash of Accel Partners. This ratio earlier
was 80:20. Travel portals and classifieds (like job search and matrimony),
however, have laid the basic foundation of e-commerce, in India. As people
started using them, their fear about security and possible fraud in online
shopping have largely dwindled. Says sulekha.com CEO and Founder Satya
Prabhakar, Buying tickets online has given people confidence that it is
absolutely safe and worthwhile to go online for shopping. The no-questionsasked return policy in many portals also helped creating the ecosystem.
According to Prabhakar, Sulekha has transformed itself from being an online
classified company to a digital market place fulfilling users needs in every
aspect. It now has a local search with 20 lakh entries for well-rated business,
about 1 crore classified advertisements on its site and an e-com vertical for a
wide range of consumer products.
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At the virtual market place, it is easier to change a business model

depending on how the demand evolves and competition hottens up. While
some niche players changed to offer a wider range of products, some sell
all players changed to niche. BeStylish.com, for instance, claims to be the
largest online shoe retailer in the country with 90 brands and 3,000 styles on
offer for men, women and children.
Apart from value-for-money brands, it sells shoes by many exclusive brands.
The huge expected growth in shoes can be attributed to the increased
affluence and raised consciousness of Indian consumers about their
footwear, said BeStylish.com CEO Shailen Amin, who added that by 2015,
there will be nearly 40 million people transacting online.
Different models
Then there are online specialised retailers like LetsBuy.com (watches,
consumer electronic items and home appliances), Caratlane (jewellery),
babeezworld.com and babyoye.com (both selling baby products, going up to
120 brands and 1,00,000 products), etc.
Then there are specialised lifestyle brands like Sher Singh, the first online
retailer of fashion for men and women inspired by the rich heritage of the
classic cricket style. E-com companies also follow different distribution
models for their services. While companies like Flipkart.com, Naaptol.com
and Myntra.com are investing heavily in building own warehouse (the former
two have six warehouses each) and supply chain logistics, portals like
Indiaplaza work only with third party suppliers.
E-com survival
All players are losing money now. For the e-commerce business to survive
and make a turnaround, it is important to keep the fixed cost as low as
possible. Thats why we work on a lean and mean model, says
Vaitheeswaran.
Though both have their pros and cons, all e-com players know that the
ultimate proof of the right strategy is that they must start making money
after the first seven or eight years. In this context, many point to the fact
that the global e-retailing giant Amazon.com took 8 years to breakeven.
Surely, e-com is a long-haul, volume-driven game.
But operating in a fiercely competitive environment on wafer-thin margins
will certainly not be a cakewalk for many. For the venture capitalists too, the
gamble is fine: If even two out of ten companies do survive, they will make
their money.
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(Deccan Herald / Friday 21 March 2014 News updated at

1:39 AM IST)

12. Conclusion
The ecommerce industry in India is nascent. With internet penetration,
Personal disposable income on the rise and with gradual demand of debit
and credit cards, the ecommerce industry is all set for some good growth
numbers in the future. There are, however, concerns amongst customers
regarding the quality of the product/offer, lack of the fun factor of
shopping, and, about the security of the online payments. These challenges
are being addressed by innovations like cash on delivery, money back
guarantee, such challenges can be easily dealt with. Due to lower barriers of
entry, competition is likely to be quite high. Price based competition can lead
to shrink in margins. However the next few years will see some consolidation
in the market space and inflow of investment in this sector is quite likely.
Overall the future of the ecommerce industry is indeed very bright.
Undoubtedly, its an expansion time for E-Commerce Industry. E-Commerce
players are banking on the Indian internet growth story. The fact that an
average online user is spending more time online gives these players the
opportunity to draw more users to their websites through innovative
marketing strategies such as those revolving around social media.
Furthermore, to fully utilize the opportunity, players need to leverage the
growing number of mobile devices in the country. They should focus on
developing mobile-compatible websites and applications. This would allow
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customers to log on to easy-to-access platforms and browse e-Commerce

websites on their mobile devices.
They also need to focus on innovation to tackle challenges arising from low
credit and debit card penetration. They could consider working with financial
intermediaries to develop payment systems, such as escrow services, for
resolving issues around security and product delivery. The RBI could step in
and reduce the number of online transaction failures by defining service
metric quality and monitoring it at regular intervals. This would enable it
keep a close eye on the performance of financial intermediaries and plug
gaps as soon as they occur.

12. Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce
https://www.google.co.in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce_in_India
http://bizresearchlabs.com/ecommerce-in-india/
http://www.tcsc.org.in/MComECom.html
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/210955/e-commerce-dreamindia-inc.html%20%28accessed
The article by Pritam Banerjee, IIM Ahmedabad.
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Legal and Policy Framework for Ecommerce in India Nishith Desai

Associates, www.nishithdesai.com
E-commerce and its implication for competition policy
Discussion Paper 1, August 2000, a report compiled by the Frontier
Economics Group for the Office of Fair Trading
Competition in B2C eCommerce: Analytical Issues and Empirical
Evidence
Stefan W. Schmitz and Michael Latzer
E-Commerce Competition Intensifies in China
(JAN. 16, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com)
Flipkart seeks merger with Myntra, Indian e-commerce
competition
heats
up
as
investors
push
for
key
reforms(Thursday, 30 January 2014 - 9:45am IST | Place:
Ahmedabad, Mumbai | Agency: DNA Web Team)

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