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Indian women are turning more active in the online world. Of the 150 million internet users in the country, about 60 million are women, according to ‘Women and Web Study’, a report released by Google India.
More importantly, women have emerged as strong brand advocates, with 80 per cent saying they recommend their purchases to other women. A total of 25 per cent said they shared their decisions online, the report said.
The study revealed women who were online were relatively more affluent and young---three of every four women in the ‘AB’ socio-economic class were online; 75 per cent were in the age group of 15-34 years. About 24 million women accessed the internet daily, the report said.
In terms of the most searched categories by Indian women on Google, apparels and accessories stood at the top, followed by food and drink, baby care, hair care and skin care. The report said skin care, hair care and food & drink were the fastest-growing search categories. For these segments, queries from mobile phones were growing rapidly — such queries accounted for about 25 per cent of the overall queries.
“With this report, it is clear that internet is empowering Indian women with easy access to information and helping them take more informed decisions in their day-to-day lives. The top generic searches and most searched brands reflect women are heavily engaged on the internet and are using it for online research, before deciding on their final purchase for categories such as skin, hair and baby care products,” said Rajan Anandan, vice-president and managing director, Google India.
According to data collated by TNS Australia, of the women with access to internet, about 50 per cent said online research influenced their decisions related to products. In terms of most researched categories and influence on purchase decisions, internet influence was the highest for skin care (72 per cent), baby care (69 per cent) and hair care (65 per cent) products.
For its study, Google India combined Google search data in India for the apparel & accessories, food & drinks, baby care, hair care & skin care categories, online data collated by TNS Australia of about 1,000 women in the 18-65 age bracket, as well as industry reports.
The search data was compiled for the April 2012-March 2013 period. Other data sources include TGI & IRS.
Online videos emerged as a key driver of internet usage among women in India, with women accounting for 40 per cent of India’s monthly YouTube user base.
Apart from music videos, TV shows, film content and beauty & fashion videos were popular among women on YouTube. Education, health & fitness and home care & cooking were also rated among the top 10 video content categories on YouTube.
