Microsoft is the latest to join ranks of big brands launching their e-commerce stores in India. The company could launch the site as early as November, said a person who is working on the project. Microsoft operates an international online store that ships to multiple countries. The site sells all Microsoft products from software like its Office suite to its Xbox in markets like the US. However, in India, it just offers its software downloads through the global site.
This will change once the India-focused site opens up. "They wanted to launch microsoftstore. in before Diwali but that is not going to happen. It will open up towards the end of November and will offer all the products of the company," said a person, who has knowledge of the plans. Last year, Microsoft launched an online flagship store on Chinese marketplace TMall. The company did not deny or confirm the development.
'We do not have anything to share at this stage," a company spokesperson said. A number of traditional retailers have recently launched their own e-tailing ventures.
The over eight-decade-old textile and apparel company Arvind Ltd launched customclothing site Creyate in August. It is set to launch a multi-brand online store next year. The Aditya Birla Group is also set to launch ecommerce businesses.
"The online channel has become too big for Microsoft to ignore. They know there might be cannibalisation of offline channel but they are willing to take that risk," said one of the people who briefed ETon the matter. Online retail sales accounts for just 0.4 per cent of the overall retail market. However, it is expected to account for 3 per cent of the overall market and reach $32 billion ( Rs 1.96 lakh crore) in size by 2020, according to retail advisory firm Technopak.
Experts said India's massive market ensures that there is enough space for both traditional brick-and-mortar retail and ecommerce. "Even if customers do research on the company's ecommerce site and then buy the product elsewhere, it is still win-win for the brand," said Pinakiranjan Mishra, partner and national leader (retail and consumer products) at consulting services firm EY. He said an own e-store will help brands provide better information and price transparency.
"If a brand has its own site, it directly gets valuable customer data," said Mishra. "On another online portal the customer data does not belong to the brand." Microsoft earned revenue of $86.83 billion (Rs 5.3 lakh crore) last fiscal.
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