E-commerce goes high on life

Shopping in India has gone online big time. More than a billion hits were registered on the top online buying and selling site eBay in 2007 with shoppers bidding on everything from phones and diamonds to stamps and lingerie.

Top 5 E-commerce cities Mumbai Delhi Hyderabad Bangalore Chennai

Not surprisingly, the trend is most apparent in the business capital of Mumbai, says a recent eBay India Census 2008. Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai make up the top five “online shopping” cities. The study is based on the buying and selling behaviour of Indians on eBay across top 100 e-commerce cities in 2007.

The real trend, however, is not that more people are simply shopping online. It’s in what they are shopping for. The most popular items bought and sold include Indian stamps, USB drives, handsets, MP4 players and diamonds.

It’s also apparent that Indians don’t think alike when it comes to shopping. So, while people in Kolkata have a penchant for buying massagers and stamps, Bangaloreans buy maximum car care products and Mumbaiites bid on ancient coins, old scripts and medals.

Says Muralikrishanan B., Director (Category & Product Management), eBay India: “Though the census covered data only for eBay shoppers, the data documents the broad trends in the online space.” The study also notes that e-commerce is becoming mainstream with over 2,427 cities having recorded online transactions in 2007.

Most interesting items
Top 5 items bought in India USB drives Value handsets MP4 players USB MP3 players Diamonds	Bought Ancient coins, African notes & medals Hair trimmers, digital weighing scales & men's jewellery Indian coins, regional movies.DVDs & VCDs Car care products & BlackBerry handsets Loose diamonds	Sold Jewellery sets FM radios, fiction & textbooks Magazines, inner wear & radio control games Bags & sarees Dolls, car parts & accessories