Devesh Kumar is a startup enthusiast and alumnus of NIFT, the National Institute of Fashion Technology, in Hyderabad, India. He is currently a consultant with Saffron Nine Technologies, and is located in Patna, Bihar, India. As RSR’s guest contributor, he offers his take on the mobile commerce opportunity in India.

Internet shopping, once a myth in India, is now a game changer. With the penetration of internet connectivity over broadband and mobile, the ecommerce market is booming, but nowhere is there more opportunity than in mobile commerce.

Payment for online purchases used to be difficult in India and, as a result, served as a significant barrier to eCommerce growth. The reach of credit cards is still very small, but eCommerce companies are finding solutions to help customers pay through Cash On Delivery services. Also, payment through debit cards is on the rise. The government has assisted with policies that support the eCommerce market. For example, through Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), a Finance Ministry program designed to increase public access to financial tools and services, it is now much easier for consumers to shop and pay.

Last year, the volume of eCommerce transactions in India doubled, but the value more than quadrupled. While eCommerce is still growing in urban markets in India, the exponential growth is now coming from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. And it is being driven primarily by mobile adoption. Mobile is a much more popular way for consumers to access the internet over laptops or desktops. In many Tier 2 and 3 cities, as well as rural areas, mobile is the only medium for connecting to the internet.

Most eCommerce sites in India are seeing 50% or more of their sales coming from mobile, and that rate is still growing. This makes India one of the largest mCommerce markets in the world, second only to China. eCommerce retailers used to see mobile as only an information channel, but now are adapting to turn mobile into a true selling channel, and approaching commerce with a “mobile first ” mindset.

With mobile phones reaching the masses, mobile commerce is poised to bring the next e-commerce revolution in India – and perhaps beyond as well. The smart phone is turned into a window to virtual stores where one can shop from anywhere with personalized recommendations for what to buy in-store online or offline. The concept of window shopping is being changed by smart phones with lots of offers as to attract customers.

Initially, only big giants like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon and Jabong were the market players in mCommerce, but now small brands, merchants and sellers are joining in. Big foreign investors are also pouring money into ecommerce companies, and many ecommerce companies are running ads on national television channels. Local industry leaders like Ratan TATA & Aditya Birla are also buying stakes in ecommerce firms.

The biggest barrier that remains for digital commerce in India – whether eCommmerce or m – is the Indian consumer’s confidence in the authenticity of the products they find online, and the supply chain’s ability to deliver. But as confidence with online shopping grows – enabled by easier access through mobile – 2015 promises to be a watermark year for eCommerce in India, right along with dynamic shifts in Indian shopping behavior.