AN ARTICLE ON E-COMMERCE IN NEPAL

(This article deals about status of e-commerce in Nepal and some of the leading e-commerce websites)

 

E-Commerce:

                    Over the past decade, e-commerce has transformed the way the business is being done in the developed world. It instantly became a successful model in regions like USA and Europe, and now the developing economies are also using this tool to grow their business. E-Commerce, is the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the internet and other computer network. E.g. Selling Physical goods using websites, Reserving a hotel room over the internet, Purchasing movie, travel and other event tickets online, etc. The types of E-commerce are Business2Business, Business2Consumer, Consumer2Business and Consumer2Comsumer.

If we peek through the history of E-commerce, Michael Aldrich, an English entrepreneur, in 1979 invented Online Shopping. He invented online shopping to enable online transaction processing between consumers and business, a technique which is now known as E-commerce. Then, in 1990, with the creation of World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee, online processing reached to the general public. Similarly, in 1994 Netscape launched first commercial Browser – Navigator. In the same year, Pizza Hut offered online ordering of Pizza on their website. In 1995, Amazon started selling Books Online and EBay (An American Multinational Corporation and e-commerce Company, providing consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales services via the Internet) was founded.

E-commerce is now a major part of the Internet. Major countries and companies have started selling online. Home delivery, online payment, satisfaction guaranteed, and money back returns are provided by e-commerce companies for trusted and quality products over the internet. The number one advantage that e-commerce possesses is speed. A large number of people prefer online shopping because of following advantages: 

• Time Saving, Easy to Compare Prices, 
• More Variety, 
• Less Prices as compared to physical market, 
• Less Taxes, 
• No Crowd, 
• Save the Transportation cost etc. 

According to a survey, the payment methods used by online shopper are given below:

Some of the largest E-Commerce websites in the world based on their visitors are listed below:

1. Amazon

Amazon was started in 1995 as online store for books. But very sooner, they expanded to all other trendy products like DVD, electronics and other ones. Amazon now do have nearly 1 million employees .It is said that amazon do have more 250 M unique visits per month.

2. Taobao

Taobao is the biggest market place in china. It do have more than 800 million products listed and 500 million users. It is the world’s largest e-commerce website next to amazon.

3. EBay 

 EBay is one of the oldest ecommerce websites and does have operations all over the world. EBay was the first one to introduce the market place concept to ecommerce shopping cart websites.

4. Tmall -  It do have nearly 181 million registered buyers. According to alexa, it is the 8th most popular website in china.

5. Alibaba - Alibaba is the global version of Chinese company and it is world’s largest online business-to-business trading platform for small businesses. This same alibaba group owns Tmall and Taobao .It do have nearly 80 million registered users.

6. Flipkart - Flipkart is the leading e-commerce company of India found in 2007.  Flipkart stands inside the 10 most popular websites in India (in terms of traffic). They did implement the Cash On delivery system for the first time in India.

7. Walmart - Walmart is an American owned company and the biggest retailer in the world. It do have different outlets all over the world. People can buy these products online from walmart.com

8. SnapDeal - Snapdeal is one of the biggest ecommerce platforms in India which ships more than 25k products per day. It was founded in 2010.

9. BestBuy - BestBuy is an American multinational consumer electronics corporation. It does have a vast collection of electronic goods at cheap price. 

10. Jabong - Jabong is another Indian ecommerce website mainly in the fashion and lifestyle niche. It was launched in 2012 and had rapid growth all over India. 

E-Commerce in Nepal:

                                                With the influence and arrival of latest technology from neighboring countries, such as India and China, Nepal is on its way to success through e-commerce. Online shopping is taking the Nepalese market by storm and it is facilitated by fast speed inexpensive 3G and 4G internet technology. The convenient modes of payments and user friendly shopping apps are further paving a pathway to unprecedented growth in the e-commerce sector. The interest of students in the field of IT, the growth of IT companies has helped a lot in the awareness and interest in young generation for internet and IT, has directly created more opportunities for the growth of e-Commerce in Nepal. 

                                                     According to a report compiled by Kaymu, a leading online marketplace in Nepal, the e-commerce sector is growing at a rapid pace, people are showing more trust in these marketplaces that offer a range of products from electronic items to home appliances to apparels. People are more inclined towards purchasing mobile phones, used motor vehicles, motorcycles, computer accessories and laptops through online platforms.

                                                   Before a decade ago, e-commerce was setup as sending gifts and money online and other websites promoting Send Gifts to Nepal which did not had real meaning of e-commerce. They were target to Nepalese residing in USA, UK, Australia and Europe. There was no effect of that business to support the e-commerce in Nepal. Gradually the business was promoted by other companies who saw there was a marginal profit. Along with the rise of IT, and business concept many online stores were launched but they did not have the actual process of buying and selling online. Some of the leading names established during the initial phase of e-Commerce in Nepal were Muncha.com(www.shop.muncha.com),Bhatbhateni Online(www.bhatbhatenionline.com),Thamel.com(gifts.thamel.com), Giftmandu(www.giftmandu.com) , mYnepshop(www.mynepshop.com) etc.

Current Status                                              

       The current status of e-commerce in Nepal seems to be promisingly good. Many users are being attracted towards online shopping and using online services. With the introduction of new technologies, digital stores and interactive apps, there is a big boost in sector of e-commerce. Many online portals and shopping portals are being launched. Now we have dozens of virtual Nepali stores in the web. They are doing good business along with providing the best services. They provide festival offers and various discounts to lure customer from the physical stores. Due to dozens of increasing online stores in Nepal, the competition is rapidly increasing day to day, which will ultimately benefit the future of e-commerce in Nepal. There are various e-commerce companies in Nepal, providing service (we use service provided by them like booking hotel room, air tickets), product (we purchase goods from them) and both. People tend to use these products as they are fast and reliable. An approach called Facebook store is also seen very popular in Nepal, where products are sold through Facebook page, rather than a website.

                                                               Despite of e-commerce trending in Nepal, a large number of people in Nepal stills think twice before purchasing online. Despite of the technological advancement, security is still a concern in people’s mind. Various frauds and scams are hindering the growth of e-commerce in Nepal. The e-commerce sector is still in its initial phase in Nepal. Companies are trying their best to earn people’s trust and establish themselves. Some of the services provided by e-commerce companies in Nepal are: buying and selling goods, booking hotels, planes, buses, helicopters, planning a holiday tour, appointment for doctors, buying and selling land, properties, comparing goods prices online and many more. 

                                                

                                                            Some of the successful companies playing a very crucial role in the growth of this industry are mentioned below:

1. Kaymu (www.kaymu.com.np) 

2. Sastodeal (www.sastodeal.com) 

3. Threadpaints store (www.threadpaints.com)

4. Nepflights (www.nepflights.com)

5. Metrotarkari (www.metrotarkari.com)

6. Unoexplorer (www.unoexplorer.com)

7. Harilo (www.harilo.com)

8. Muncha (www.shop.muncha.com)

9. Foodmandu (www.foodmandu.com)

     

                                              

                                                               Payment option plays a vital role in e-commerce. Since internet is the backbone of the internet, online payment is preferred in e-commerce. Not only the payment option must be safe, it must be favorable for both buyer and the seller. Some of the payment options available for Nepalese users offered by Nepalese e-commerce sites are: Cash on Delivery (COD), Bank Transfers, Prepaid Cards, Debits Cards, Master Cards, E-wallets (E-Sewa, Hello Paisa, iPay, PayBill). 

How payment system works?

Conclusion:

I say, it’s time to go online, sell online, Payments should be easy. Every individual’s trust must be built by business owners. Time has come to take your business online, start your online shop today.

E-Commerce is a practice which no one can escape and avoid. It will be either today or tomorrow we must adapt to it. Both the development of payment system, legalizing and securing the payments, creating reliability from the portals is a major issue. With the growing generation every business will have to adapt and think about their online existence in future depending on the nature of business. It will not be too long; there will be a boom in the trend of eCommerce business soon in Nepal.