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Indians from tier-II cities and beyond spend an average of 2 hours and 25 minutes per week shopping online, spending approximately 16 per cent of their income on e-commerce purchases, according to a recent study.
Tier-II cities, including Guwahati, Coimbatore, and Lucknow amongst others, lead in terms of time spent on online shopping. Amongst tier-I cities, Bengaluru leads with a maximum of 4 hours and 2 minutes weekly on online shopping, according to the study by CyberMedia Research (CMR) – a technology market research and advisory firm.
As many as 86 per cent of consumers rely on influencers' or publishers' reviews to make their purchase decisions. Males appear to follow influencers more diligently (90 per cent) than females (80 per cent).
“The wide range of choices, convenience, and comfort provided by e-commerce has empowered emerging young consumers in aspirational India (Tier II, Tier III cities and beyond) to shop more online, and to fulfill their aspirations,” said Prabhu Ram, head-Industry Intelligence Group, CyberMedia Research (CMR).
Amazon, he said, has emerged as the preferred choice for consumers owing to its ‘extensive and enduring presence across India’. Over the past six months, 73 per cent of consumers from both tier-II and tier-I cities claimed that they shopped at Amazon.
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“Major players like Amazon and Flipkart, niche market players such as Meesho and others, and conglomerates like Tata and Reliance are fiercely competing in these markets,” Ram added.
The top three triggers for online shopping among consumers include attractive prices (57 per cent), convenient return and exchange processes (57 per cent) along with irresistible offers (49 per cent).
“In a large, diverse market such as India, both online and offline retail will continue to co-exist,” said Sugandha Srivastava, senior manager, Industry Consulting Group (ICG), CMR. “As consumers continue to gain digital fluency, the eCommerce boom will also significantly benefit small business owners as well. This will contribute to the rise of India’s trillion-dollar internet economy,” she added.
Two out of three consumers have spent up to Rs 20,000 on online shopping in the past six months. The average spend on online purchases in the same period by tier-II buyers, at Rs 20,100, is nearly on par with the online spend by tier-I buyers, who shelled out Rs 21,700.
Average spends, the survey added, are the highest in Mumbai at Rs 24,200. Nagpur and Coimbatore also show similar growth trends in online shopping at Rs 21,600.
