SCO BizTalk: E-commerce sector in India is blooming

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Businesses with sustainable growth have become a focus for Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) entrepreneurs. India's E-commerce sector is among those progressing well, and one of the most successful startups from India is BookMyShow.

BookMyShow is an online ticketing platform that sells Indian tickets, everything from movies, concerts, plays, to large ticket items such as Broadway light shows. The company almost has a monopoly over the market, and it has sustained its journey since 1999 when established.

Ashish Hemrajani, CEO of BookMyShow, said that success of his company in India was grasping the conventional way of thinking.

“Common sense is the most uncommon thing,” Hemrajani said. He explained that Indian situation is not as American or European, but something in between.

“So India is actually like many countries stitched together, and it is the idea of a nation. But actually, if you go and look at it and dissect it, what you were just mentioning if you look at the geographical split, it’s so complex,” he said.

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With socioeconomic divide, only the top 10 percent of India can afford anything as Hemrajani said, emphasizing those are the people who control 80 percent of the wealth. The CEO added that the bottom 40 percent of this country controls only five percent of the wealth.

“What are you going to sell them [under the] payment systems? That guy doesn’t have food to eat one meal in three days!” That’s the common sense that Hemrajani has mentioned. But, hopefully, he said that there are changes in India and things are looking to improve, such as infrastructure sector. Hemrajani also said opportunities in China might be the moment for India.

“I think there is an opportunity for Indian businesses to work in China,” Hemrajani said, explaining there are more businesses in China since the urbanized Chinese outnumber that of India.

“I think they might be able to do some great work out there. There are already guys who have taken the lead,” he added. By imitating and optimizing China’s business style, India may succeed in the e-commerce sector.

(Shweta Bajaj also contributed to the story.)