Why Nilekani is betting big on e-commerce

E-commerce players in India are bound to succeed because of huge market opportunities, and the coming Diwali season will be a pointer to where this space is headed, says Infosys co-founder Nandan M Nilekani.

He is also of the view that prudent cash management and improved customer experience will stand them in good stead.

"E-commerce businesses are becoming more disciplined about their operations, they are burning less cash, they are improving their customer experience, and this Diwali season will be a very good indication of how the market is growing," Nilekani, the brain behind the biometric Aadhaar, said.

"All these companies are well-funded, they have enough capital to last for a couple of years. So, that gives adequate time to discipline the model. In any case, they are doing an amazing job and I am sure they will continue to grow and do well," he told PTI.

Nilekani noted that India is hardly doing USD 10-15 billion worth of e-commerce transactions a year and that's going to grow in 4-5 years to anywhere between USD 60 and 100 billion.

"So, they (e-commerce players in India) are bound to succeed," he said.

He also talked about various business models emerging in this space.

For example, e-commerce and modern trade may be 15-20 per cent of the retail economy while 80 per cent is actually small trade, small retailers, according to Nilekani.

"Companies, including 10i Commerce Services where I have investment in and which has a technology platform called ShopX, are aggregating small retailers and giving them the benefit of what e-commerce can give. So, different business models are emerging in this space," he said.