40% consumers plan to shop from D2C merchants this festive season: Report

With the onset of the festive season, more than two out of five, or 40 per cent, consumers across the country have expressed their intent to shop online from Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) merchants, a survey conducted by Simpl revealed.

The surge in consumer interest can be attributed to the growing number of individuals turning to D2C merchants in recent years to meet their evolving needs.

To gauge consumer sentiment during the festive season, Simpl conducted a survey to get insights about consumer's festive purchase plans. 

The survey revealed that consumer optimism remains high, as 41 per cent of the participants said they have strong online shopping plans during this festive season, with 33 per cent of the respondents planning to purchase fashion and accessories, followed by 23 per cent for travel, and 11 per cent for personal care. 

Food and beverages, as well as consumer electronics, were other popular categories that respondents plan to spend on.

Gen Y (between 1982 and 1994) and millennials (between 1981 and 1996) constituted a majority of the responses, highlighting their strong preference for festive shopping online, including D2C merchants, to cater to their specific and unique needs.

Commenting on the trend, Khanaz KA CXO - D2C Business at Simpl, said, “The festive period is undoubtedly a much-anticipated season for consumers and merchants across India. As an organisation, we are committed to building consumers’ trust in merchants, D2C merchants in particular, and increasing conversions and reducing returns for the latter through our AI-led checkout and post checkout solutions."

"Considering D2C merchants service the majority of their annual business during this period, we are focused on enabling these merchants to offer a better than marketplace experience on their platforms. Over the last six months, we have been able to improve conversions up to 87 per cent and reduce returns to the extent of 66 per cent for hundreds of our merchants across fashion, footwear, travel, home decor and other categories, in a testament to our commitment," he added.

Interestingly, nearly 70 per cent of D2C merchants are also expecting a 2-4x increase in sales during the festive season, revealed another survey by Simpl conducted with hundreds of merchants across the country. 

These merchants are significantly adding manufacturing and warehousing capacities, along with increasing manpower and spending on marketing, the survey stated.

With over 26,000 merchants and millions of customers connected to Simpl's network nationwide, the platform has been actively engaged in empowering the D2C merchant landscape in India by delivering convenience and fostering trust among consumers, said the company in a press release.