Ecommerce

Published on December 14th, 2012 | by Lewis Parker

India’s internet shopping craze

For centuries a hub of bustling trade, India is awakening to the power of the online marketplace. According to new research from Nielsen, internet shopping is starting to catch on in the developing nation.

The report only polled those who had internet access, but that could be as many as 121 million people – twice the population of the UK.

Enter Google

The online shopping industry in the world’s largest democracy is reported to be worth $1.5b. Companies operating at the Google-organised Great Online Shopping Festival increased their sales this year by up to 80 per cent. The December 12 ‘festival’ was Google’s attempt at recreating America’s ‘Cyber Monday’ and ‘Black Sunday’, when retailers offer discounts for the festive periods between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

A lot of customers were lured into the search engine’s shopping wheeze by a 10 per cent discount on all goods sold, which seems to have worked. As well as attracting people used to the online shopping experience, Google’s event lured in a lot of new consumers. Retailers reported large increases in the amount of purchases from new users to their sites.

Thrift

According to the Nielsen report, Indians have a particularly “thrift-driven mindset.” So if internet shopping is viable, it’s bound to be attractive. Extra costs of traditional shopping such as transport, it says, are likely to be weighed against the cost of delivery for internet shopping.

Therefore 25 per cent of people surveyed said they would consider buying products such as food and drinks online.

“No doubt, offline retailing will always draw in its constant stream of shoppers who are either not yet online, are still seeking the tactile reassurance of touching and feeling what they buy, or are seeking physical interaction,” says Adrian Terron, executive director of Nielsen India.

“This growing shift is a signal to brand owners and retailers that being connected to your shopper online and in a manner that makes you part of their everyday lives, has the potential to pay off.”

Beyond the retail market, jobs websites are the fastest growing sites in India, with 30 per cent more people job hunting online last year. The booking of air and rail tickets is also rising significantly – 4.72m reservations were made in the last year, which is an increase of 15 per cent on 2011.

Even if they don’t make a purchase online, the Nielsen report says Indian consumers are likely to research a product online before purchasing it from a store. Therefore having a strong online presence for the sale of consumer goods is said to be more important than ever.

 

 


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