India and Internet marketing are two things that get me excited, the only thing thats more exciting is Internet marketing in India ! I really believe that India is one country that will be truly transformed as Internet spreads over the country’s population. At the very least the Great Indian middle class will present at least as big an internet population as the United States’ current Internet population. Besides, there would be business scope for internet enabling services – that is services that bridge the Indians that are not online – with the online India, but that probably is the subject of another post altogether.
For now lets see where we are and what is the scope of growth. In this article on Rediff.com, according to a new survey by Juxt Consult, an online research firm, internet usage in India has expanded to 30 million users in 2006, from 17.7 million in 2005. While impressive growth from any perspective, this is still a far cry from the over 220 million internet users online in the US (here is one such source – claims 77% of the population is online). So what does all this mean – Well here is the deal, once again anecdotal data suggests that the total middle class population in India is at least 250 million, and therefore we can expect at least 250 million people to go online in India over the next 10-15 years. And these by the way are all English speaking internet users. Can you imagine the opportunity there? I believe its huge, inevitable and coming fast. If you are here reading my blog, you are probably interested in India and at least somewhat interested in the Internet. Are you going to take advantage of this opportunity ? Or is some one else?
September 4, 2006 at 1:33 am |
Very informative. Some multinationals in the past have burnt their fingers by introducing products that did not appeal to the famed Indian middle class. However, this is different- internet is a powerful tool in the hands of the individual and the sonner it spreads the better. There is no option for the people but to get net savvy as there was no option but to learn computers two decades ago.
Hope you follow this up with the online services “bridge” article.
September 4, 2006 at 4:51 am |
Thanks, Hiren. I agree with you that internet is a very important tool, and with the spread of computers in India, it will become an invaluable tool in the hands of the net savvy Indian.
As I was writing about the elusive Indian middle class of course it did cross my mind that there have been several multinationals that have come seeking the elusive numbers in the Indian middle class, however actually this time, I am quite hopeful of the Indian entrepreneur making the most of this coming boom. Will definitely try to follow up with the bridge article on online services.
September 4, 2006 at 6:04 am |
[...] Probably not, if they are smarter, they will probably bet on enough direct consumers and some middle men, such as online travel agents to log on and make reservations for consumers. This would be one example of the Internet enabling services in India, which I first talked about in my post this morning, on the Indian Internet Market opportunity. Why is this better than the already existing system of travel agents? Because there is more transparency in the system, the online agent, knows that his quote can be checked by the consumer going directly online. I believe the internet will morph into its own Indianized format, just as several other industries and markets have been Indianized since the opening of the Indian economy. The exciting thing is online travel is only the beginning, as was the case in the more developed internet economies of the world, travel is only the first frontier, there are many more to come. [...]