E-commerce

Historically wealthiest old cities are its weakest online shoppers

Parvathi Benu

Shailesh Jha

Jayant Kumar

January 08, 2026 | 10 Min Read

From Kozhikode to Lucknow, India’s historically wealthy cities resist e-commerce. Their centuries-old bazaars, community credit networks, walkable markets and generational shopping habits make clicking 'buy now' seem unnecessary

In the sultry May of 1498, the port of Kozhikode (formerly Calicut) saw the arrival of foreign ships that sailed through the Cape of Good Hope. These were from Portugal, led by explorer Vasco Da Gama, the first European to reach India by sea. The city in northern Kerala was an important spice market and port, frequented by Arab, Persian, and Chinese merchants. Historians who chronicled the visit note how the ships and exotic goods brought to Kozhikode by Gama failed to impress the natives, for the land was already quite prosperous.

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