Local MOM & POP Stores in Coalition with E-Commerce: An Awesome Conflation for Emerging Markets

In the series of latest developments that marked the progress of technology is the World Wide Web (WWW). On par with the earlier discoveries such as fire, steam engine and the proliferation of telephone lines, the WWW ushers many revolutionary changes relating to how human beings communicate, educate, entertain and the way how they carry on businesses. This marks a new era in the history of human race. India stands third in the world with over 150 million internet users. The e-commerce that was earlier restricted to jobs and ticketing has exploded since then. Starting from apparels, fashion accessories, shoes, electronics, real estate, groceries, vegetables, medicine and pharmaceuticals, education, insurance and many other goods and services in the B2C space and procurement of every raw material and other commodities for any business in B2B arena, e-commerce has become Omni-present. Today the government's railway ticketing website is biggest e-commerce portal in the country. The Key drivers of e-commerce growth in India are: Increased penetration of internet, busy lifestyles & lack of time for offline shopping, lower online prices compared to brick and mortar retail due to less intermediaries & reduced inventory & real estate cost and availability of much wider product range compared to what is available at brick and mortar retailers. In the light of the convenience provided by online and the omnipresent mom and pop stores, it is proposed that these two would be the paramount formats of retailing as a mix of brick and click models.