Can traditional retailing and e-tailing co-exist?
K Vaitheeswaran: I think both retailing and e-tailing will continue to co-exist for quite sometime to come. We don’t see e-tailing as a complete alternative to physical shopping. Clearly, both will co-exist. What will happen is this: people buying on the Net will start increasing slowly. Quickly after some time, there would be an exponential jump with people realising that this medium definitely offers significant convenience. For need-based products, the Net is becoming a very convenient way of buying. We strongly believe e-tailing will expand the market in the case of impulse-based products such as books and music. The Net offers you an opportunity to buy irrespective of where you are. This will clearly expand the market. After a period of time, we believe both retailing and e-tailing will reach their plateau and continue to co-exist with each other. Viraj Savant: Retailing is coming of age in India. We have not seen large retailers in India until now. E-tailing offers tremendous adv
