What do customers want from e-commerce firms - quality or discounts?

Consumers look for quality, differentiated experiences across categories, finds a Kantar study; Amazon, Flipkart say the focus is on relationships

What consumers want and how can companies cut down friction at the digital cash counters? These are questions that never go out of fashion in the ever-evolving landscape of Indian e-commerce. However as a new study by Kantar eCommerce On shows, these may not be the best questions to ask; instead, consumers are saying, stop treating online consumers as a discount-seeking universal mass and ask what the category demands in terms of convenience, trust and quality. 

“A few years ago, prices and value were the key drivers. Today, quality is as important an expectation,” says Sushmita Balasubramaniam, commerce lead, South-Asia, Insights Division. The evaluation of quality (and convenience and intent to purchase) clearly differs by categories, the study showed. For instance, for consumer goods such as ‘soft and hot drinks,’ Indian shoppers are very similar to their global counterparts and treat it as a routine purchase, while they are highly exploratory when it comes to fashion.

Similarly, the exploratory mode is on for banking and financial products and within the category, the older group of shoppers behaves differently from the rest. Groceries, the next frontier for ecommerce giants, sees consumers seeking freshness (looking for cues such as daily produce, quality checks and freshness of delivery). But for clothes, buyers go by the platform it is sold on and so on.

Many sizes fit one

It is not just important to treat the mass as a mix of diverse consumer needs and wants but to also look at each customer as a mix of mindsets and behavioural patterns. Flipkart and Amazon are the dominant platforms for purchase, the study showed but emergence of specialist players like Nykaa for cosmetics or BigBasket for fresh food is changing the game. In terms of customer satisfaction Pepperfry ranked in between Amazon and Flipkart in home decor space, while Nykaa ranked more than the two e-tail giants in beauty and cosmetics, as per the study. 

A spokesperson for Amazon India said the company believes in three pillars of customer experience, building wide selections, enabling the platform with processes that can make it possible to provide great value, and ensuring fast delivery. The aim is to build lasting relationships.

Balasubramaniam said, after the initial growth, etailers faced a challenge getting in the next set of consumers, due to multiple reasons, including the advantages that offline retailers enjoy. The offline retailer plays a focal role in many categories and displacing this relationship will take much more than just wooing consumers (with special offers and sales, for instance).

Both Amazon and Flipkart agree. The spokesperson for Amazon said that customers will only shop with them until they find a better experience elsewhere and the platform is focused on continually developing a better experience. The Flipkart spokesperson said they are focusing on improving efficiencies in deliveries, enhancing the search and discovery functions for its diverse customer base and other innovations. 

The voice factor

The relationship with the retailer is important due to shoppers being unfamiliar with online processes and many online portals are now addressing these challenges, said Balasumbramaniam. Voice is the game changer in this context.

Many online portals have voice assistants speaking in many tongues, simplifying the process immensely while addressing issues of trust. Flipkart has one that speaks in Hindi and English while Amazon’s Alexa too speaks in many tongues. Apart from infusing a sense of familiarity into the retail process, vernacular voice assistants are also able to understand the nuanced needs of the online buyers and relay them back to the ecommerce data teams. This helps fine-tune the process further.

For instance, Amazon India found that almost 80 per cent of the customers who shopped on Amazon.in during the last festive season came from tier two and three towns and over 50 per cent of its sellers are also from tier two and beyond cities. Hence Amazon Pay was developed as a one-stop payment counter, from booking gas cylinders to bus tickets, movie tickets, flight tickets, movie recharges and more. The focus is also on increasing affordability through services, the spokesperson said. The Flipkart spokesperson said that they have an array of fintech solutions for the consumer and these serve the larger goal of on-boarding the next 200 million customers.