Consumers purchasing online more frequently: Report

Increasing number of consumers in the country are embracing online buying and their frequency of hitting the e-commerce platforms is growing, a joint report, titled ‘Shaping Consumer Trends’ by industry body FICCI and PwC, said. While, in 2013 only nine per cent of the consumers surveyed used online channel to purchase products on a daily basis, in 2015 the share had gone up to 12 per cent, the report said.

Weekly purchases too have picked up in recent time – from 31 per cent of consumers buying on online channel every week in 2013 to 39 per cent in 2015. Monthly purchases, however, remained flat at 33 per cent. The report said, online purchases are expected to grow at 60 per cent.

In the Online segment, the greatest increase has been seen in purchases made by consumers using smartphones or mobile handsets. Daily purchase through mobile phones have gone up to nine per cent of consumers in 2015 from six per cent in 2013. And nearly 60 per cent of the total buyers purchase through online channel at least once a month now, compared to 38 per cent in 2013.

Books, music, movies, video games, clothing and footwear remained the most preferred categories when it comes to buying online. Only seven per cent of the respondents said that they don’t buy these items online at all. Categories such as household appliances and furniture remained least preferred with 25 per cent and 26 per cent of buyers staying away from online platforms for these items.

According to PwC’s Global Survey, 4-5 per cent of the respondents in India exclusively opt for online purchases in every category, compared to 2-3 percent around the world. “In the case of a relatively new category such as grocery, over 75 per cent of the respondents said they shop for it online,” it reported.

Payments through smartphones in India is at 25 per cent - higher than the global average of 12 per cent – and is in sync with China’s average. “Many businesses have launched mobile apps and websites to tap the growing trend of online shopping. However, what they offer online are only digitized version with respect to what their existing physical channels offer. This approach is unlikely to deliver significant results. Businesses need take a fresh look at tapping the unique characteristics of the web and smart devices, and come up with powerful ways of engaging and serving consumers,” the report observed.

According to it, consumers in the country are opting for herbal and healthy products which will increase the market size of such products. Citing Euromonitor estimates it said that the market size of herbal products in India will grow to Rs 51,000 crore ($7.6 billion) by 2020 from Rs 43,000 crore ($ 6.4 billion) in 2016.  “With the popularity of home remedies in India, natural, herbal and ayurvedic products are generally regarded as extensions of such therapies. They are also used as health supplements,” it reported.