India’s online lifestyle market to grow 20%, will be worth $45 billion by 2028: Report

India’s online fashion and lifestyle market is projected to grow about 20% to $40 to 45 billion by 2028 from $16-17 billion today, said a report titled “E-Styling India: Decoding Online Fashion and Lifestyle Shopping Trends” by Bain & Company in collaboration with Myntra.

The growth will be heralded by easing of short term inflationary pressures combined with structural and favourable demand shifts such as rise in income, increase in affluence as 65 million households are projected to join the upper-middle and high income bracket over the course of five years, increased brand awareness, structural shifts in consumer base with a rise of fashion-forward and digital-native Gen Z shoppers, as well as an increase in demand for organised channels, the report highlighted.

Gen Z is used as an informal reference for the demographic group that comprises youth born between mid 1990s and early 2010s.

While over 175 million Indians shop for lifestyle and fashion products online, the Gen Z shopper base is at 60 million as of 2023. This means every one out of three shoppers belongs to Gen Z, accounting for 25% of the e-lifestyle market today. However, this cohort is expected to grow in salience with an increase in its purchasing power, the study said.

Nonetheless, there is massive room for improvement when it comes to the penetration of e-commerce in India. The penetration rate is approximately 13%, which amounts to a third of the e-commerce penetration in the rest of the developed markets, the report stated.

The report published on Wednesday, August 7 stated that India’s overall lifestyle market, valued at $130 billion today, is set to reach $210 billion, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10 to 12% over the next five years.

India’s lifestyle industry which includes fashion, beauty and personal care is the largest non-grocery consumption segment.