Competing in a high-pressure business environment has become a challenge for retailers. As an effective alternative sales channel, sellers search the Internet, giving them direct access to target customers. Online retail (also known as e-tail) is a web-enabled interface between a retailer and its target consumers to sell products and services on the web with the ease of e-commerce. These types of retailers are also known as e-retailers. Almost all the big retailers are now present electronically on the World Wide Web.

After the invention of the WWW (World Wide Web) web browser in the 1990s, the launch of the Mozilla Netscape browser in 1994, and the opening of the first online retail store by Pizza Hut, online retailing has passed by a great transformation and today it is still developing in a very diversified way. E-tail has become very popular in the areas of clothing, arts and crafts, books, car rentals, computers and electronics, cosmetics, financial services, gifts and novelties, etc. This retailer could be an e-store, internet store, web store, web store, online store, or virtual store.

Some of the main advantages of e-tail that make it popular among retailers are low investment cost, direct access to target customers, and fast return on investment. This type of retail format helps retailers serve their customers faster and more efficiently by offering them a detailed portfolio of products and services. On the other hand, the availability of point-of-transaction data helps retailers analyze and interpret their target customers. It has become the most efficient way to offer valuable information to customers such as discounts, promotions, new and existing products based on customer requirements and past buying behavior. The availability of a lot of information about the products has increased the level of trust among consumers.

The online retail industry in India is likely to be worth Rs 70 billion by 2015, according to the Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Buy-sell trends from leading e-commerce portals indicated that the online retail market currently stands at Rs 20,000 crore and is growing at a constant annual rate of 35%. Among the Indian states, Maharashtra has the best IT infrastructure, both from the perspective of the retail industry and from the perspective of consumers. Mumbai accounts for a 24 percent share of India’s e-commerce transactions. Some of the popular online Indian retailers are Staples Inc, Home Shop 18, Indiaplaza, eBay India, Future Bazaar, India Times, Rediff etc. The easy availability of broadband services and increasing Internet penetration are acting as support for the growth of online retail sales. The growing purchasing power of Indian customers will bring a boom in online shopping in India. One of the latest additions to online retail is advertising through social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. In addition to website technologies, retail leaders are looking to embrace video, mobile, and social media strategies to deliver a richer, more engaging, and easier-to-use experience.

After bringing revolution in metropolitan cities, online retail will create a sensation even in rural areas. Also, with the opening of the Indian economy in connection with the change in FDI strategies, it is a wake-up call for retailers who have done very little to develop an online strategy, as retail giants like Tesco and Amazon already actions have been initiated. and implementation of the strategy in the Indian retail market.