CAREER AFTER PGDM: Career in e-Commerce Sector
We are now going to try and adapt the positive outlook to post PGDM career opportunities in the E-commerce industry. The good news is that the industry is growing and is flushed with funds, which means you have plenty of opportunities ahead of you. So what’s the potential bad news? Well, it might not be an instantly rewarding career choice. But hold your horses! If you look at it as the race to the finish, you might have bet on the winning horse. Now let’s look at the evolving eCommerce industry in detail and what it has in store for you. Opportunities abound: A survey conducted by the global market research firm Nielsen a couple of years ago revealed that one-fourth of MBA graduates from top-tier B Schools preferred a career in the e-commerce sector. It has become the second most sought out avenue after FMCG industry and with good reasons too. The e-commerce industry is growing rapidly as consumers are shopping online with gusto. Fresh management graduates have a plethora of opportunities in different areas of E-commerce A plethora of options to choose from: Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, MakeMyTrip are just some of the big names that have made giant strides in the E-commerce There are newer players entering the market on a regular basis and they look for professionals who can take on the challenges of the e-commerce industry from Day 1. With your PGDM training, you can present yourself as an appealing candidate with these leading on-campus recruiters. The placement season at B Schools has never looked more dynamic. Experiment. Learn. Grow: If you opt for a top e-commerce company then you are likely to be working in some of the hippest offices in town. From HR division of the company to Marketing teams, as a PGDM graduate, you could fill in several roles for the company. However as the industry is still in its early stages you have to understand that domains, especially at the beginner’s level are porous. But look at the bright side; it gives you the flexibility to gain experience in different areas of interests. Crazy promotions on good performance: As a fresh PGDM graduate you might start as a management trainee with a renowned e-commerce venture. But that’ not discouraging in the least bit because the industry offers you immense scope to boost your job profile in a short span of time. There’s lots of room for Creativity: If you are looking for a career option where you can draw attractive salaries from the day one then you should stick to investment banking or other lucrative industries. The rewards of e-commerce industry are not instant, but the possibilities are endless. There are success stories of management professionals who have gone on to bag plum packages in a couple of years. The industry rewards you for thriving on the challenges and proving your mettle. A risk worth the taking: While the e-commerce industry is definitely here to stay, it is also volatile. Many new companies had to shut shop within a couple of years. It’s a risk, but as the popular quote goes, ‘if you don’t risk anything, you end up risking everything’. Your experience with an e-commerce company, however short it might be, can help you in your future careers. Who knows, you might be encouraged to set up your own e-commercestartup as many PGDM graduates have. E-COMMERCE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AND JOBS IN INDIA The Indian operations of Amazon, the global e-commerce juggernaut, got more than a shot in the arm when Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos pumped in a cool $2 Billion in 2014. This came up close on the heels of multi-million dollar funds raised by its leading desi rival – Flipkart – which now has a valuation of more than $15.5 Billion. While financial analysts continue to debate over whether the valuations of e-commerce companies are over the top (we think they are!), the industry trends are clear. Flush with funds, the e-commerce sector is growing and not showing any signs of slowing down in the near future. Before we jump into understanding the career options in this industry, let us find out how big is the opportunity and how fast is it growing and what are the different segments? The share of retail business in 2014 as a percentage of the overall retail industry is just 0.4% and expected to become 3% by 2020 Indian retail industry is growing at a rate of 10% CAGR whereas eCommerce business is expected to grow 22% CAGR over the next 5 years. Main sectors & the top companies in Indian E-commerce eCommerce Industry in India is divided primarily into 6 major segments: Traveling / Ticketing – Cleartrip, MakeMyTrip, Yatra, Thrillophillia etc. Retail(R) & Marketplace (M) – Shopperstop (R), Flipkart (M), Snapdeal (M), BigBasket (R) etc. Deals – Groupon, CashKaro etc. Education – Eureka Classified portals – Shaadi.com, Naukri.com etc. Hyperlocals – Grofers, PepperTap, Swiggy Points to note: Travelling has the biggest share in the eCommerce space (70%) Retail/Marketplace is the fastest growing at the segment with CAGR of 56%. Hyperlocal is the latest kid in the block and they have been able to pull very good traction. Each of these segments caters to a niche need and the consumer behavior also varies across these segments. This clearly points to the fact that for a country of 1.25 billion people, eCommerce is a BIG opportunity! List of Ecommerce roles and their requirements eCommerce has opened up a gamut of opportunities across the spectrum of skills. The career paths have evolved around three areas: Creative i.e. product look & feel, customer experience, marketing, branding etc. Operations i.e. category management, supply chain, logistics, warehouse & inventory etc. Auxiliary areas i.e. finance, payments, legal, HR etc. Average Salary in Ecommerce Jobs Now it’s the time to talk about an important thing – Money! From the picture below you would get a fair understanding regarding various roles and their respective industry demand & skills supply A detailed layout of tentative salary numbers w.r.t. years of experience can be found below. I have limited it to 12 years because I believe that it is an optimum amount of time that one needs to invest to understand the intricacies of the business and after which there needs to be a strategic shift to take oneself to the next leadership level. E-commerce salaries in India You might ask – “Why are these salary numbers tentative?” Well, the primary reason is that salary numbers will depend on many factors like the organization you are presently working in/ have worked for or your qualification levels and so forth. Hence the above numbers might vary based on the scenario. At this point, I will like to draw a caveat; whatever be your experience, salary levels or qualification, all these roles need to have just one goal in mind: The value you can add in the whole consumer experience lifecycle – this is not-negotiable! Parts of this article are written by KaushikChakrabortywho has over 10 years of experience in the areas of product management, consulting & business analysis. He has worked with global clients from the Asia-Pac and India region. He completed his B.Tech from NIT and MBA from XLRI (Jamshedpur)