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E-ticketing Billed As Leading Online Trend In India
Bhisham Mansukhani - Mumbai
E-ticketing has emerged rapidly as the definitive online trend in India, according
to the Internet & Online Association of India (IOAI), a non-profit industry
trade organisation. According to its latest research on e-commerce trends in
India, the IOAI has cited, (on a base of 1,493 individuals), that Indians are
not averse to and are in fact keen to book travel on the Internet. The Indian
Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has been one of the key recipients
of the benefits of this phenomenon.
| Everyday, 50,000 customers plan
their journeys on the IRCTC site and book over 7,000 rail tickets online.
The website serves five million page-views everyday and has more than 50,000
unique individual visitors. More than half a million consumers in India
and world over have transacted through the IRCTC website.
Age Group: 26-35 years (47%)
age group is buying the highest number of railway tickets followed by
18-25 years (21%) with the 36-45 years (20%) age group, a close third.
Geographical: Sales of railway
tickets are highest in Mumbai (25%) and Delhi (21%) followed by Chennai
(8%), Bangalore (7%), Ahmedabad (2%), Kanpur (2%). The 'Other cities and
towns' (31%) completes the category. With greater Internet penetration
coupled with the Railways impetus to increasing 'e' infrastructure, the
numbers for other cities will increase in the near future.
Transacting users: 25% of
those who transact on the website are new transactors i.e. people doing
their first transaction on the site, while 75% are those who have already
done one or more transactions on the site showcasing a high level of satisfaction
with e-ticketing.
Revenues: Revenues from
ticket sales have crossed the level of Rs 40 crore per month in recent
months, with the average value of a ticket varying between Rs 1,400 and
Rs 1,600.
Tickets have been bought
from other countries, some of which include United States, United Kingdom,
Japan, Australia, Germany, Indonesia, Canada, Singapore, and United Arab
Emirates.
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Railway ticketing is a perfect example of self-service, e-economy with the
Internet being the domain of information, options, bookings, and capacity-allocation.
The e-commerce report states that 39 per cent of respondents have used the online
ticketing service of the railways and in the near future, 48 per cent of the
respondents are likely to opt for e-ticket booking option.
"E-ticketing is the fastest growing category and has become a reality in
India, reaching to more than 139 towns and cities, and our study clearly demonstrates
an increasing acceptance of the e-ticketing system. Growing satisfaction levels
and word of mouth publicity are the primary factors for its fast growing popularity,"
says Preeti Desai, president, IOAI.
Amitabh Pandey, Group General Manager (IT Services), IRCTC says, "B2C Ecommerce
has become a commercially viable reality in the Indian business space today.
IRCTC has played a pioneering role in this field and our experience has established
that e-commerce is increasingly being accepted across the country by customers
as a reliable way of doing business. E-commerce is the future and we are proud
to be a significant part of it".
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