Profiling online shopper: Non-metros, regional languages new superstars

Real and virtual worlds collide while regional takes the lead as consumers speed down the digital highway

Non-metros and regional languages are the new superstars in the Indian consumer landscape according to Google’s Year in Search report for 2017 and while the consumer is losing her inhibitions with digital commerce, she is also increasingly seeking an offline validation for her online discoveries and vice-versa.  
 

The report shows that today every two search strings out of three originates outside the metros and local language searches have gone up ten times. An earlier report had said that every 9 out of 10 new users coming online in India (since the past year) is a non-English language user (Indian languages-Defining India’s Internet by Google-KPMG). For brands this is the consumer group that could lead them to  the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the digital rainbow.  

Digital has transformed from a support function under a brand’s marketing strategy to an actual platform for business. The report shows that in categories such as automobiles there was a direct correlation between online research and offline purchase, with 20 per cent of the sales in a leading OEM being driven by digital. Whereas in categories like consumer goods and banking, entire transactions were being conducted online, with consumers relying on Search to educate themselves and also to look for products. “For example, they’d not just search online for tips on hair care but also buy products that solved the problem,” the report said.

According to Hitesh Malhotra, chief marketing officer, Nykaa.com, an online beauty store, “Shopping and search contributes to more than 10 per cent of Nykaa’s overall revenue directly. However, if we look at these channels as influencing channels, then impact could be 3X-4X over direct revenue. A lot of  traffic is attributed to the visitor clicking on search or shopping ads in prior interactions.”

Over the year there has been a 46 per cent growth in searches around male grooming, with highest search share of shaving, followed by deodorants. There was a 50 per cent growth in searches for natural remedies and beauty content has overtaken food on YouTube, with a 2.5x increase in watch time in one year. Natural beauty is one of the fastest growing categories for Nykaa too says Malhotra as customers are more informed about the health and environmental impact of the products they consume.

Fashion is another big online hit. According to the report, the year saw a 53 per cent growth in fashion e-commerce queries. Close to 78 per cent of online shoppers in India have purchased fashion and lifestyle products through e-commerce websites in their lifetime and there was a 38 per cent growth in apparel queries, which is the largest share of fashion searches in the country.

In fashion too, men are more aggressive players. The report says that men look for brands while women search for assortment (in terms of styles and functions). In 2017, there was a 96 per cent growth in men’s clothing searches and 28 per cent were looking for branded apparel. There was a 73 per cent growth in women’s apparel queries, 65 per cent women were searching for dresses and 92 per cent of women apparel searches were brand agnostic.
 

According to Myntra, a fashion e-commerce company owned by Flipkart, the ‘urban value seeker man’ accounts for 20 per cent of the total purchases on its platform. Men make up half the universe of shoppers on its platform.   

Consumers are blurring the lines between real and the virtual. Multiple case studies  showed that the omnichannel shopper showed up to 33 per cent higher in-store conversion rate. Searching for stores became an integral shopping experience in the retail department, with a 50 per cent increase for “stores near me”. 

The digital influence is being felt even in the automobiles sector; 79 per cent of car buyers who watched an online video took action after watching it. Almost 70 per cent of Indian automobile sales or $40 billion will be digitally influenced by 2020, compared with $18 billion today according to a Bain & Company-Facebook report. 

The story in numbers

• 2 in 3 searches are from outside the 6 metros, 10x growth in local language searches in 2017
• 50% of the non-English searches are in languages other than Hindi
• Telco-owned mobile wallet services saw a 70 per cent growth in searches
• Searching for stores became an integral shopping experience, with a 50% increase for “stores near me”
• Offline touch points during a consumer's car buying journey are reducing with an increasing reliance on the web

Source: The year in search, Google India

Vikas Agnihotri, Industry Director, Google India said, “Online video has emerged as the biggest disrupter for the four-wheeler industry in India. From an advertiser perspective, what makes this even more relevant is that car manufacturers can now measure the exact impact that online is having on offline sales.”

The growing viewership of online videos has also led traditional players such as TTK Prestige to add a large digital component to their marketing plan. It has over 100 videos where chefs demonstrate the use its products and a large group of bloggers who promote the brand while providing cooking tips and recipes. The kitchen appliances industry has a mix of consumers, some prefer online and some traditional stores. Subramanian Srinivasan, CEO, Preethi Kitchen Appliances said that have something for every consumer.  “Collaboration with online influencers and opinion leaders helps Preethi to engage and stay relevant,” he says. 

These behavorial trends are framed within the context of the growing dominance of non-metros in the online world. In auto and tech categories, non-metros have left metros behind in terms of search volume, and in almost every category the growth rates for search queries are far higher for non-metros as compared to metros. Overall, the growth of the Internet as a marketing channel and as medium for promotion and branding will be driven by small towns. And there is likely to be a higher rate of conversion among shoppers, as many more move from the enquiry to purchase stage as brands solder the gaps in their digital supply chains.