A circular platform raised around a shade tree on the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, (NIT-C) campus here gets busy around noon every day with students ransacking a stack of parcels.
That is the spot where the items they purchased online would be brought first, before they are handed over by the delivery personnel.
Online purchase is seriously catching up on the campuses here, says R. Ajithkumar, district manager of a logistics group working for different online shopping firms.
“We have our delivery boys going daily to all the major campuses including the NIT-C and the IIM-K. Books, electronics goods, and fashion accessories are items mostly purchased by students here. Around 40 to 60 items are delivered on the NIT-C campus alone every day,” he says.
Convenience
The time it saves, the convenience it offers, the monetary profits it throw up are some of the attractions of purchasing things online, says Santhosh Kumar, an Electronics and Computer Science student at the NIT-C.
“There is an increasing number of students who use the e-purchase facility from the campus these days,” he adds.
Across campuses
The trend is more visible on campuses with a pan-Indian character such as the NITs and the IIMs.
That doesn’t mean that students on other campuses are not buying things online. “The only difference is that they may not give their college address for the delivery,” says S.R. Robin, delivery staff of ekart, a logistic firm here.
The response to the online mode of purchasing is steadily on the rise on the IIM-K campus as well, says Mr. Ajithkumar. According to him, students from different parts of the country who are put up in hostels are the key client base of e-purchase.
New trend
The trend, however, gained a visible force only in recent years, he says.
For people like Hanna Koshi, a student at the IIM-K, the facility is attractive because of the wide spectrum of choices it offers.
“Moreover, many of these things may not be available in the local shops here. I mostly purchase dress items,” she says. Not only students, but even professors resort to online shopping facilities, she adds.
Not only students, but even professors are shopping online.
