Thanks to scorching heat, shopping trends of Indian consumers have witnessed a significant change this ‘summer season’, a whopping 155% rise in online trends over the regular shopping compared to last year (85%), reveals the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) latest survey.
“This summer season, there is a 155% more traffic on online
retail websites and shopping on ground has taken a back seat due to rising
heat. Apart from convenience, rising fuel price, online discounts and
availability with abundance of choice keeping them indoors, said Mr. D S Rawat,
Secretary General ASSOCHAM while releasing the ASSOCHAM survey.
As per the ASSOCHAM findings, Delhiites have left behind all
other cities in India shopping online. While Mumbaikars ranks second, Bangalore
ranks third in their preference for online shopping in the survey, for which
around 3,500 shoppers in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahemdabad, Kolkata
among other cities were interviewed.
As per the survey 78% of Delhiites prefer shopping online
while 14% prefer to shop in traditional markets. Around 7% of respondents said
they prefer to visit a mall for their shopping needs while 1% said they prefer
shopping at specialty stores, the survey stated.
In other cities like Mumbai, 45% of its population chose to
buy daily routine products through e-shopping in 2012-13, which will go to 68%
in this summer season for apparel, gift articles, magazines, home tools, toys,
jewelry, beauty products & sporting goods categories.
Likewise, Bangalore share was 35-40% in the last year, which
might go up another 65% in this season for books, electronic gadgets,
accessories, apparel, gifts, computer peripherals, movies, hotel booking, home
appliances, movie tickets, health & fitness products and apparel gift
certificates etc.
The survey further reveals that 35% of regular shoppers are
in 18-25 age group, 55% in 26-35, 8% in 36-45 and 2% in the age group of 45-60.
85% of Online Shoppers are male as against 15% female.
Majority of the working respondents said, “Online retail
industry’s business is quite good. Heading out to shop on day off in scorching
heat, battling traffic, parking issues, and long lines for bill payment is
quite a cumbersome process and this is the main reason for the shift in trend”.
As per the majority of respondents, the business module is
cost effective, easily accessible and profitable in many functional areas.
Consumers and retailers both desire safe, simple and comprehensive online
shopping that will truly realize the range of power of the Internet", adds
the ASSOCHAM survey.
According to the survey, India has more than 110 million
Internet users, out of which around half opt for online purchases and the
number is growing every year. With such a large market size, companies, right
from retail shops to consumer goods, are entering the Web space to attract
potential customers, adds the survey.
The online shopping industry in India is fast catching on,
not just in the larger metros but also in the smaller cities. At present the
market is estimated at Rs 92,000 crore and is growing at 100 per cent per year,
adds the paper.
Mr. Rawat further said, “Customer behaviour is changing
dramatically. People are not only using the Web to book air tickets and movie
tickets but also do not hesitate in placing orders for apparel, cosmetic,
mobiles, laptops and other consumer electronics and home appliances," adds the survey.
The products that are sold most are in the tech and fashion
category, which include mobile phones, ipad and accessories, MP3 players,
digital cameras and jewellery, among others, said Mr. Rawat.
The reasons for e-shoppers number multiplying are because of
factors such as home delivery which saves time, secondly ’24×7′ hours
shopping with ease and availability factors for product comparisons.
Most products bought & sold off through online comprise
Gift articles (58%), books (42%), electronic gadgets (41%), railway tickets
(39%), accessories apparel (36%), apparel (36%), computer and peripherals
(33%), airline tickets (29%), music (24%), movies tickets (26%), hotel rooms
(20%), magazine (19%), home tools and products (16%), home appliances (16%),
toys (16%), jewelry (15%), beauty products (12%), health and fitness products
(12%), apparel gift certificates( 10%) and sporting goods (7%), adds the
survey.
Of those who are averse to shopping online cited various
reasons like prefer to research products and services online and then actually
buy them from a store (30 per cent), find delivery costs too high (20 per
cent), don’t want to share personal financial information online (25 per cent),
lack of trust on whether products would be delivered in good condition (15 per
cent), don’t have a credit/debit card (10 per cent).
Top reasons given by
shoppers in buying through Internet:
- · Safety Reasons
- · Saves time and efforts
- · Convenience of shopping at home
- · Wide variety / range of products are available
- · Good discounts / lower prices
- · Get detailed information of the product
- · You can compare various models / brands
- · An insight into some of the problems stated by customers
While buying through
Internet:
- · Not sure of product quality
- · Cannot bargain/Negotiate
- · Not sure of security of transactions /Credit card misuse
- · Need to touch and feel the product
- · Significant discounts are not there
- · Have to wait for delivery
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