Top India ecommerce and Shopping Trends in 2015
Online Shopping trends are changing in India every six months. Indian eCommerce and online retail business is booming and mushrooming, largely pushed by 250 million Internet users and 150 million Smartphone users in India. One hand, we have large marketplaces like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and Paytm. On the other hand, niche players in Fashion, Mobile and Household. Buyers are demanding, getting more options, leveraging offers, comparing prices/ features and sharing their shopping plans and decision on social networks.
Let us take a deeper dive into what will drive eCommerce in 2015 and coming months – and how online shopping sites will keep their consumers engaged.
Mobile and app shopping
Mobile and apps based shopping has contributed to India’s Online Shopping growth. It grew 100% during the year 2014-15, maintaining the pace. With the growth in Smartphone users, web stores have increased their push on mobile and smartphones to tap the market.
Sharing and suggesting
In physical stores, we used to go with friends and family to take opinion about our shopping. Seeking opinion is basic nature and digital media has added a new dimension to it. You can now share your preferences on Social Media, Personal Messages, Whatsapp and many more alternate ways. This will continue and social entrepreneurs will come with more such options.
Compare and think before act
While this is true for premium products that people compare products 360 degrees before making any buying decision. Buyers would keep comparing products for its features and pricing. They would also compare where to buy from, whether the web store is legitimate, what are the return and payment policies, whether the payment is secured on the site and – the big one – should they buy now or wait for big occasions when prices fall.
Handle returns
In absence of any physical touch and feel on web purchases, return rates are significantly higher in comparison to physical stores. Online shopping sites are getting 10% to 15% returns, depending on the category. Handling returns hits web stores in two ways:
Stores online, advertising offline
These days we’re seeing big advertisements of almost every online shopping sites, grocery services, household services etc. Advertising includes full front page of the newspaper or large hoardings on the road. eCommerce business wants to remain connected to the people whether they’re online or offline. So the advertising trend would not only continue, but also increase in the coming years.
Content is king
People are really aware now. When it comes to knowledge about the product they have gained plethora of analysis and review access. So the appetite to know more before buying would grow. With premium and niche products this is even more applicable. So the sites with more content would be dear not only to the buyer but also to the social media and search engines.
Big occasions becoming bigger on Deals, Discounts and Offers
Who doesn’t love deals and discounts! The more you give the better is the response. The market push basis the offers and deals would never die. It is upto the business owners and sellers to decide on the smart pricing of the products based on seasonality and demographics, primarily. Something worth mentioning here, big occasions are really becoming bigger. People hold their shopping for Diwali, Christmas, New Year, Vacations – so tapping right pricing at these moments would be key to survive and thrive.
Rating and review – linking people to people
When you go buying as a shopper and see a rating of 2/5, it is very unlikely you would buy it. So the matter of fact is, people are reviewing and rating after they purchase a product and helping others to take decisions accordingly. This trend would always stay – since it links people to people.
That said, retailers and brands would keep their presence in Omni-channel. They would just follow the customers – wherever they find customers, retailers and brands will make their presence
Online Shopping trends are changing in India every six months. Indian eCommerce and online retail business is booming and mushrooming, largely pushed by 250 million Internet users and 150 million Smartphone users in India. One hand, we have large marketplaces like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and Paytm. On the other hand, niche players in Fashion, Mobile and Household. Buyers are demanding, getting more options, leveraging offers, comparing prices/ features and sharing their shopping plans and decision on social networks.
Let us take a deeper dive into what will drive eCommerce in 2015 and coming months – and how online shopping sites will keep their consumers engaged.
Mobile and app shopping
Mobile and apps based shopping has contributed to India’s Online Shopping growth. It grew 100% during the year 2014-15, maintaining the pace. With the growth in Smartphone users, web stores have increased their push on mobile and smartphones to tap the market.
Sharing and suggesting
In physical stores, we used to go with friends and family to take opinion about our shopping. Seeking opinion is basic nature and digital media has added a new dimension to it. You can now share your preferences on Social Media, Personal Messages, Whatsapp and many more alternate ways. This will continue and social entrepreneurs will come with more such options.
Compare and think before act
While this is true for premium products that people compare products 360 degrees before making any buying decision. Buyers would keep comparing products for its features and pricing. They would also compare where to buy from, whether the web store is legitimate, what are the return and payment policies, whether the payment is secured on the site and – the big one – should they buy now or wait for big occasions when prices fall.
Handle returns
In absence of any physical touch and feel on web purchases, return rates are significantly higher in comparison to physical stores. Online shopping sites are getting 10% to 15% returns, depending on the category. Handling returns hits web stores in two ways:
- The products are unboxed
- The delivery logistics become complex
Stores online, advertising offline
These days we’re seeing big advertisements of almost every online shopping sites, grocery services, household services etc. Advertising includes full front page of the newspaper or large hoardings on the road. eCommerce business wants to remain connected to the people whether they’re online or offline. So the advertising trend would not only continue, but also increase in the coming years.
Content is king
People are really aware now. When it comes to knowledge about the product they have gained plethora of analysis and review access. So the appetite to know more before buying would grow. With premium and niche products this is even more applicable. So the sites with more content would be dear not only to the buyer but also to the social media and search engines.
Big occasions becoming bigger on Deals, Discounts and Offers
Who doesn’t love deals and discounts! The more you give the better is the response. The market push basis the offers and deals would never die. It is upto the business owners and sellers to decide on the smart pricing of the products based on seasonality and demographics, primarily. Something worth mentioning here, big occasions are really becoming bigger. People hold their shopping for Diwali, Christmas, New Year, Vacations – so tapping right pricing at these moments would be key to survive and thrive.
Rating and review – linking people to people
When you go buying as a shopper and see a rating of 2/5, it is very unlikely you would buy it. So the matter of fact is, people are reviewing and rating after they purchase a product and helping others to take decisions accordingly. This trend would always stay – since it links people to people.
That said, retailers and brands would keep their presence in Omni-channel. They would just follow the customers – wherever they find customers, retailers and brands will make their presence
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