Make apps, e-tailing presence work harder

Getting digital consumers to commit to a long-term relationship is not easy. Digital media is transforming consumer's relationship with a brand through the stages of brand awareness, consideration, evaluation, purchase and use. Accenture recently surveyed 600 consumers in a report titled, Charming the digital consumer: Priorities for today's marketer, to understand their behaviour and relationship with a brand.

India has the second-largest mobile subscriber base and one of the fastest growing mobile Internet usage across the world. More than 50 per cent of the Internet traffic originates from smartphones - with SMS and apps dominating their usage. Accenture's survey shows that 41 per cent of consumers subscribe to SMS from a brand/company.

Apps offer value-added functionalities, and consumers get "hooked" to such convenience. Apps are also changing the way consumers shop.

To capture this rapidly exploding consumer base, marketers need to create specialised tools and consumer-centric apps, and invest in providing a world-class mobile platform. For example, bar-code scanning function in an e-commerce company's app for consumers to instantly find a product in front of them online.

The survey shows that 72 per cent consumers prefer e-tailers for online purchases, with only 28 per cent preferring company websites. E-tailers offer better deals and multibrand options, providing greater choice. They also offer product comparison.

Overall, 47 per cent consumers have made online purchases, spending 24 per cent of their total budget online, with the fashion and apparel category constituting 28 per cent.

The value-conscious Indian consumers seem to favour exclusive discounts or offers. Forty-five per cent consumers say that availability of discounts or offers are more important to them than the brand offered, while less than one-third consumers opt for brands. Twenty-four per cent are indifferent to either discounts or brand.