India’s e-tail market will reach US$76 billion by 2021, says a study by Technopak.

Sales of goods online accounted for only six per cent of the country’s total e-commerce market, valued at US$10 billion in 2012.

But according to Technopak’s study, e-tailing has the potential to grow more than 100-fold during the next nine years. The country’s growing Internet-savvy consumer base, which will comprise 180 million broadband users by 2020, along with a burgeoning class of mobile Internet users, will drive the e-tailing market, it says.

India’s total retail market is primarily served by offline retailers, which hold 93 per cent share, while corporatised brick-and-mortar retailers hold seven per cent. E-tailing shares currently stand at only 0.1 per cent. However, it is expected the shares could grow to 5.3 per cent by 2021.

“E-tailing will emerge as a viable third alternative by which corporatised retail can expand its share of the total retail pie.”

“The key reason for this disruptive growth lies in the fact that the market-enabling conditions and ecosystem creation for e-tailing will outpace the same for corporatised brick-and-mortar retail. This growth will offer many advantages to the Indian economy, besides bringing in immense benefits to consumers,” says Technopak.

As Internet-habituated consumers increase across India, e-tailing has the potential to grow as well.

“This dispersion does not allow accumulation of enough demand for brick-and-mortar retailers to open stores. Yet these same consumers, aggregated at a pan-India level, become an attractive opportunity for e-tailers,” it said.

Technopak also said that e-tailing can provide employment to 1.45 million people by 2021. It says its growth will spur the creation of new capabilities and human skills in the areas of logistics, packaging and technology.