Indian eB2B sector to touch $90-100 bn by 2030: Redseer

The Indian business-to-business e-commerce market is expected to grow at a 40-45% compound annual growth rate to $90-100 billion by 2030 from $5-6 billion in 2022, a new report by strategy consultant Redseer revealed on Monday.

With Udaan capturing a market share of 55-60% in the retailer-led eB2B market, the overall segment currently accounts for 1-2% of the B2B general trade in the retail space, Redseer Engagement Manager Abhishek Tandon said in a conversation with DH. By 2030, he expects this share to rise to 7-8%.

“Growth in this market will be led by deepening penetration among retailers across categories and geographies, and a higher wallet share for eB2B platforms,” reasoned Mrigank Gutgutia, who is a partner at the consultancy.

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The segment which is at a nascent stage harbours extensive potential with currently “limited multi-category platforms with pan-India operations across categories,” the report highlighted.

Over the last few months, many vertical platforms have been struggling, and across categories have shown limited growth or a decline due to challenging unit economics and prevailing macro-economic conditions, added Gutgutia.

According to the report, platforms catering to retailers constitute 70-80% of the eB2B market while the remaining 20-30% is occupied by platforms catering to wholesalers. Staples and grocery items drive volume and demand predictability enabling low cost distribution penetration and increased frequency of service as discretionary segments such as clothing, footwear, electronics, home & kitchen, and FMCG boost the margins for multi-category platforms.

As opposed to vertical models which focus on single categories, multi-category first-party players with inventory-based models and better unit economics are best positioned to benefit from the booming segment, the report noted. They can optimise costs with higher throughput per feet-on-ground, greater retailer density and collection efficiency by cross-leveraging the same collection infrastructure across multiple categories and sub-categories.