Emerging eCommmerce hubs; India and Kenya

eCommerce is evolving every day and new eCommerce hubs are being created every day. In this post, I will be reviewing the latest hubs in Asia and one in Africa, considering that this is the future of the world.


The first one will be India in Asia. India is a sleeping giant with one of the largest potential markets in the world. The emergence of India as a top eCommerce hub is driven by a traditional brand loyalty considering that Indians are quite conservative. What this means is that Indians have started gaining trust in eCommerce and those brands that win their trust will be reaping benefits for a long period to come. According to the The Economic Times, rural India has climbed on to the e-commerce bandwagon and are competing with its urban counterpart to shop or sell smart gadgets. Be it GPS holders, smart phones, laptops or tablets, netizens in smaller villagers are trading in electronics on eBay.in just like any suave urban consumer. This is a clear indication of continued penetration of eCommerce into the Indian market as rural India continues ti borrow a leaf from the suave Urban India. The Economic times continues to state that Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, Choryasi in Gujarat, Kartikapall in Kerala, Villupuram in Tamil Nadu and Dindori in Madhya Pradesh have emerged as top five rural hubs for e-commerce. According to eBay Census 2012. "E-commerce is no longer a metro-phenomenon," said Shivani Suri Dhanda, head (brand and acquisition marketing), eBay India while unveiling the eBay Census 2012. Choryasi emerged as the top rural export hub in the country.

The second one is Kenya in Africa. Though the country has a relatively small population, it is becoming an ecommerce hub due to a market that, just like the one in India, is very loyal. This can be observed in the growth of the dominant  communications provider- Safaricom and it's M-PESA mobile commerce success. At the same time, Kenyans are very hardworking and innovative which has led to countless ventures by individuals into eCommerce. Some of the rising brands are rupu, bid or buy and olx. Any serious eCommerce specialist with a goal to make good money online should consider targetting the Kenyan market.


In my opinion, those eBusinesses that will get to penetrate these two eMarkets early enough will have a high probability of gaining trust and recognition and will end up reaping great benefits for a number of years to come.