Proving the essential power of the Internet to bring a democracy of information and economic opportunities to previously insulated groups, a recent study named the I-Cube 2007 survey, covering 30 Indian metro areas and towns, and 65,000 people shows that while Indian Internet connections have grown by 11 times in just the last seven years, the usage in smaller towns has exploded by almost 70 times. So, if an Indian village had ten residents who were online in the year 2000, they now have seven hundred Web surfers in 2007, on average. While more users come from the cities, the most dynamic growth is happening in the hinterlands, where a connection to the world outside, like the Internet, is most appreciated. The survey was undertaken by the eTechnology Group for Internet and Mobile Association in India on the Consumer E-Commerce Market. This study has opened a fascinating window to the Indian sub-continent, as regarding Internet usage.
Where do Indians access the Net? The fastest growing connection pads are schools and colleges, unsurprising for a country that is still struggling to create a country-wide cable-based Internet, and has a small number of Internet users versus total population, being somewhere between 30-40 million out of a total well over a billion people. The group accessing the Net from a school has grown by 22 times, whereas those connecting from home have increased times 15. But those accessing from Internet café's are still the leading place for logging on, overall, followed by home, and office is last.
What are Indians doing on the Net? Checking email and seeking information are the top activities, and of the information searchers, 60% want general knowledge, and 45% are seeking to find out about education (there can be a cross-over), with 27% seeking jobs info, 17% financial, 4% dating and marriage sites, and 8% searching for astrology.
Since 2000, the numbers of those going online for games, ringtones, music and video downloads has increased 27 times. But online buying has shot up as well, by 25 times. So for every four people who were going to the Web to make purchase in 2000, there are now a hundred. In fact, in 2006, Google predicted that India will become the biggest online market in the world. There has even been conjecture that Hindi will join Chinese and English as the dominant three Internet languages, pushing aside Spanish.
Now for the hard question: How can non-Indian e-marketers take advantage of the explosion of growth in India, especially in the countryside? This simply depends upon getting an "Indian education," doesn't it?!! Fortunately, much free learning can be done upon the Net. Mastering demographics, such as where people live, their age and sex, and religious affiliation is a start. And some time used to study diet, hobbies, national pastimes and how big and what discretionary incomes are used for, and generally, what the consumer market traffics in. At some point, a trip to Barnes & Noble, for books on the Indian society and business methods, might be in order - or better yet - surf online bookshops for them.
Getting a good look at what indigenous and foreign sites are selling a lot of in India would be helpful. Another aspect to master is the law of India in this area, especially Internet and business law, for which the Internet Business Law Services might come in handy. These are preliminary steps. Finding a way for persons without credit cards to pay online, Indian-style, would also be indispensable information.
The great news for any Web merchant is that India is a wide open marketplace, and where Net use potential has barely been scratched. If one could tap into an unrepresented online market, the rewards might be hard to gauge. India is obviously a place where novel Internet business ideas could be tried, and the payoff might just be massive.
No comments:
Post a Comment