A recent survey conducted by MasterCard Worldwide revealed that Indian consumers were using internet more frequently for shopping.
MasterCard Worldwide recently published its latest Insights Report, Economic Crisis and Preference for Online Shopping in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa which shows that in India the average frequency of online purchases increased to 2.9 in fourth quarter of 2008, up from 2.6 during the same quarter in 2007.
The survey shows that consumers across all the regions studied made frequent purchases online despite the economic climate, with the exception of Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong. In terms of average spending on online shopping conducted in fourth quarter of 2008 - China, Singapore, Korea and Japan – saw a slight increase, while Hong Kong, Australia, India and Thailand saw a slight decline.
In India, 54 per cent of the respondents had used internet for shopping. The top three most popular online purchases included airline tickets (54 per cent), home appliances and electronic products (48 per cent) and CDs/DVDs/VCDs (44 per cent). When it came to impulsive shopping, Indians seemed to prefer home appliances and electronic products (51 per cent) and CDs/DVDs/VCDs (44 per cent).
Interestingly, among all the markets surveyed, India is the only one where the 18-29 year age group has the highest average spend on online shopping.
The majority of the online shopping conducted in the region was planned, with 83 percent of online shoppers admitting that they tend to plan their shopping in advance and conduct research on their planned purchases. Most online shoppers either bought items impulsively “hardly ever” (36 percent) or “just a couple of times” (38 percent). The top reason for impulsive buying was the discounted prices (67 percent) that online channels afford.
“Online shopping is growing in popularity as consumers realize the convenience and ease of shopping online. As businesses look to grow their online retail presence, they need to be aware of the preferences and concerns that drive online shoppers. The findings of MasterCard’s latest Insights Report, Economic Crisis and Preference for Online Shopping in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa offer valuable insights into the online consumption patterns of these consumers," said T.V. Seshadri, vice president and country general manager, South Asia, MasterCard Worldwide.
The survey findings suggest that economic crisis could have made online shopping more attractive. One key reason for shoppers being motivated into online purchases may be the ability to compare prices across multiple outlets hence achieving the important objective of “value for money”.
This is the second survey on online shopping habits conducted by MasterCard. It covered 5037 respondents across 10 markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, UAE and South Africa with the latter two being new markets included in 2008. The inaugural survey was conducted in December 2007. The survey and the accompanying Insights Report do not represent MasterCard financial performance.
