New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS): As more and more people are turning to e-commerce platforms for their shopping requirements amid the pandemic and social distancing norms, e-commerce operations also are evolving and turning more effective along with contactless features.

Ambrish Kumar, Founder of Zipaworld and Group CEO, AAA 2 Innovate Private Ltd said that the people involved in the last mile delivery are also now seen equipped with no-contact delivery and delivery gadgets and applications making use of technology.

There is an increase in the number of kiosks, pick-up and drop-off points arranged during the pandemic to promote faceless and touch-less transactions, he added.

"During the pandemic, the e-commerce segment has got a stimulative acceleration. There definitely has been a phenomenal shift of consumers from brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping during the pandemic," Kumar said.

Yuvraj Aman Singh, Founder and CEO of Rocking Deals noted that brands have seen a two-to-four-fold growth.

He, however, was of the view that the growth could have been 8 times in the absence of instability in the job market.

"The refurbished segment is also rising as people are more cost-conscious and acceptance that refurbishes is majorly repacked goods is driving this segment forward," he said.

On the evolution on the tech front Singh said that small businesses are integrating payment gateways on their websites and apps, which was not present earlier

"We are also looking to integrate chatbots so that we can handle customer queries efficiently. So, for us, it is about POS and customer engagement technology," he added.

Abhinav Girdhar, Founder of Appy Pie said that the smaller businesses in India who were not so keen on going digital, have finally done so, because that is where all the customers are.

On the interface of e-commerce site and apps, he said: "The interface has to become simpler than ever because the consumer demographics have shifted drastically."

In terms of the payment gateways he said that UPI will continue lead the online transactions.