Installation of large appliance is a major concern for online shoppers: survey by CompareRaja

Compareraja.in, one of the leading portals for price comparison in India, has conducted a survey to address the reservations that online buyers have towards online purchasing of large appliances such as TV, Refrigerator, AC, Washing Machines, etc.

The participants were predominantly from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. They were aged between 25 to 34 years, and 73 percent of the participants in the survey were males.

As per the survey, 33 percent of the online shoppers do not want to purchase a large appliance online due to various reasons mentioned herewith.

46 percent of this 33 percent do not wish to buy because of installation related issues

63 percent of the 46 percent had a resistance to online purchases because of the unavailability of free installation services in their cities.

37 percent of the 46 percent believed that the time taken to install a large appliance was considerably higher when bought online as compared to an offline purchase.

Five percent of the participants, mostly from Tier II cities, blamed the time taken for delivery for their lack of interest in buying online.

Around 15 percent of the participants were apprehensive of such purchases as there was no warranty on offer for some brands.

Ambiguity in terms and conditions were the deterrents for about 16 percent of the participants.

An interesting insight that influenced six percent of participants against making a large appliance purchase online was their fear that the product would get damaged in transit.

Seven percent of the participants said that some of these large appliances were sold cheaper at offline retailers while about five percent decided against such online buys because of the free goodies offered by local dealers and merchants offline.

A quick glance through the survey findings can help e-commerce companies to realize that improved installation service will help to boost their sales of large appliances. Other factors such as warranty as well as transparent and clear terms and conditions can also give online purchases of large appliances a significant boost.

"Such surveys are an interesting way to identify the issues faced by consumers. The insights from these surveys are ideal fodder for e-commerce behemoths to develop the robust ecosystem and augment purchases of large appliances online," said founder and CEO of Logicserve Technologies, Rohit Chugh.