New Delhi, March 20 (IANS): Average online purchases in India are expected to increase by 78 percent this year on the back of attractive deals and aggressive marketing of merchandise, industry chamber Assocham said on Sunday.

"Unfazed by slowdown, average online purchases are expected to increase by 78 percent in 2016 from 66 percent in 2015, due to attractive deals and aggressive marketing of ever-expanding range of merchandise from clothes to jewellery, from electronics to books," said a study by Assocham and international accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).

Around 55 million consumers purchased online in 2015 and the number is expected to grow to 80 million this year with better logistics, broadband and Internet-ready devices, it said.

The report said the growth of e-commerce has been driven by aggressive merchandising and discounting from flash sales and daily deals, more online loyalty programmes and increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets among consumers.

"The smartphone and tablet shoppers will be strong growth drivers. Mobile phones already account for 11 percent of e-commerce sales, and their share will jump to 25 percent by 2017," it said.

Overall the e-commerce industry, worth $25 billion, has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of about 35-40 percent a year, and is expected to cross the $100 billion mark in five years, it added.

"E-commerce is big business and getting bigger every day. Online shopping has been embraced by Indians with close to 8-10 million adults making a purchase via the Internet in the last year," said Assocham secretary general D.S.Rawat.

The report also said computer and consumer electronics, along with apparel and accessories, will contribute 40 percent of the total retail e-commerce sales in 2016, from the current level of 35 percent.