Women comprise 47% of India's online shoppers: Ipsos study

While gender equality continues to be an unfinished agenda of Indian politicians, bureaucrats, NGOs, and the society at large, not for online commerce sites-at least not anymore. There has been a rise in female and Gen X participation in online shopping in India recently.

While men constitute about 53% of online shoppers in the country, women control the balance 47% share. The fast-closing gap between men and women shoppers indicates the rising adoption of online shopping by India’s women. This has been revealed in the latest Ipsos study, ‘Clicking into the future: Top trends driving India’s online shopping surge’.

Mapping online shopping trends in India by using a mix of primary and secondary research, the study provides marketers with top 10 key trends and insights into consumer behaviour to help marketers leverage and maximise the potential of e-commerce and quick commerce for informed decision-making.

The study shows that gender parity can be observed in terms of adoption of both, e-commerce as well as quick commerce (Q-commerce) with the shopping carts of women shoppers being dominated by grocery, beauty, apparel, and household items. Similarly, even the Gen Z (30%) tend to shop more online, as compared to millennials (23%) and Gen X (19%).

Archana Gupta, country service line leader, market strategy and understanding, and lead shopper insights, Ipsos India, said, “We are witnessing an unprecedented consumer traffic towards online shopping, across demographics and length and breadth of the country, getting a further impetus through q-commerce.”

Ipsos survey captured 10 trends with respect to online shopping, gender parity being one of them. As 45% of internet users reside in rural India, 20-25% in small towns/ non metros, e-commerce has gained a deeper reach in the hinterland—effectively breaking down geographical barriers for online shopping. The survey shows at least two in 10 consumers residing in small towns shop online. While the urban shopper predominantly shops for groceries online, apparel purchase was higher among tier-2 and tier-3 towns.

While discounts have held the highest allure for online shopping, 68% consumers indicate convenience and speed as the key motivation for them. This was specially true for Gen X and women respondents, with 75% Gen X and 73% women respondents, preferring convenience to discounts as the biggest factors drawing them to online shopping. Given that women have to juggle between work and daily chores, it is natural that they would give preference to convenience over cost. For men, however, convenience (64%) as well as discounts (64%) mattered in equanimity while shopping online.

Quick delivery mechanisms have caught on with consumers across categories, irrespective of whether they are buying low-involvement or high-involvement goods. 31% of online shoppers found shopping from online apps faster than buying from shops. This trend was higher among Gen X (41%), highlighting shoppers' rising impatience.

Stockouts are seen as lost opportunities. Peak-hour browsing by consumers provides interesting consumption trends. And pop-up offers can provide some great engagement and conversion opportunities, the Ipsos study observes.

Since online shopping, unlike brick-and-mortar stores, is not constrained by timings, consumers can place orders from anywhere and anytime. Q-commerce and food delivery apps deliver 24X7--even during midnight or the wee hours. This time and place flexibility offered by online shopping was seen as appealing by nearly 31% of online shoppers, and higher among Gen X (39%). With quick availability and delivery, consumers’ stocking up patterns are changing, necessitating the presence of smaller SKUs and stock availabilities to meet frequent shopping needs, observed Ipsos. Nearly two-thirds (66%) of Q-commerce shoppers claimed to be using these sites at least once a week or more frequently.

Access to product information and reviews is dictating consumer choices, leading to informed decision-making, found the survey. 54% of online shoppers claimed to be reading reviews always, before the considered decision-making. While 40% claimed to be reading reviews sometimes before decision-making. This is significant considering that there is no option of touch and feel in online shopping, so reviews and product information are the only gateways to decision-making for consumers. This probably explains why there has been a rise of influencers and their role in providing credible information for consumer action and patronage.

Digital marketplaces are multi-brand outlets, encouraging exploration, leading to increasing brand switching and lower brand loyalty. 60% of those shopping for apparel and 55% of those shopping for groceries mentioned that they were willing to purchase another brand if the planned brand was unavailable online. Highlighting this trend, Ipsos observes that brands must ensure easy availability of their products on online shopping platforms and also strive to build consumer loyalties. The boom in specialised platforms or vertical-focused players is reshaping e-commerce, according to the study. 60% of online shoppers mentioned using q-commerce sites like Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, etc, with majority of them using more than one app. The presence across platforms and a clutter-free approach will hold the key for brands to be noticed, according to Ipsos. AI too can be leveraged to provide a recommendation based search.

Lastly, the ease of shopping online is making expenditure tracking challenging, laying emphasis on budgeting tools for online shopping, finds the Ipsos study. Almost one in two online shoppers (48%) were found unaware of the amount spent by them online, the study mentions.

“The online shopping landscape presents both, opportunities and challenges, for marketers. Shoppers are highly impatient – switching brands and looking for instant gratification. These trends can help marketers tailor their strategies to effectively target and tap into the immense potential of online shopping and the evolving digital marketplaces,” said Shruti Patodia, research director, Ipsos Shopper Insights.