Social Commerce To Witness Upsurge For Beauty & Fashion: IPG Mediabrands’ The Indian Online Shopper 3.0 Report

EE News Desk Sep 03, 2024

This in-depth study surveyed over 7,000 consumers across India, delving into 18 key categories to unveil crucial insights for understanding the evolving online shopping trends

IPG Mediabrands, in collaboration with Google, presents ‘The Indian Online Shopper 3.0’, an exploration of consumer behaviour in the digital shopping landscape. This in-depth study surveyed over 7,000 consumers across India, delving into 18 key categories to unveil crucial insights for understanding the evolving online shopping trends.

Top 5 takeaways:

The report equips businesses and marketers with invaluable knowledge about consumer behaviour, enabling them to tailor strategies that resonate with the dynamic preferences and expectations of the Indian online shopper. Key takeaways include:

The Indian Online Shopper is open to hedonistic shopping; however, is still mostly conservative across categories.
Shopping missions (motivating factors) vary not only across categories but also across shopper profiles.
15 years after the advent of e-commerce, Indians still need handholding from online retail platforms.
Social commerce is not ready to be a sales channel. However, it’s becoming the most important point of discovery and influence.
Marketplace giants are bleeding users to category-specific marketplaces and D2C brand websites.

Indian Online Shopper Profile:

Dissecting the Indian online shopper profile, the report examines demographics, consumer classification, household income segmentation, and state-wise behaviour analysis. Key findings include:

Online shoppers skew younger: 75 per cent of shoppers are aged 18-44.
Shopping for household, not just self: Most are married (69 per cent), living with children, and nearly half (49 per cent) live with parents.
A significant portion are affluent: 62 per cent of online shoppers have medium to high household income.
Concentration in select states: Five states account for over half of online shoppers: Maharashtra (16 per cent), Delhi (12 per cent), Karnataka (9 per cent), West Bengal (9 per cent), and Tamil Nadu (8 per cent).

Shopped Categories:

Focusing on 18 categories, the report explores shopping missions, analyses purchase frequency, and unveils the influences driving online shopping decisions. Key insights include:

Rise in emergency purchases: Quick commerce has accelerated purchases in categories like food, groceries, and baby products.
High dependence on recommendations & reviews: Shoppers seek expert opinions before buying expensive items like electronics and furniture.
Fashion and Beauty e-commerce on the rise: These categories show both impulse and routine buying behaviour, driven by the ease of online shopping.

Shopping Sources:

The study identifies pain points in online shopping, investigates reasons prompting consumers to switch platforms, and outlines the latest trends. Findings include:

Resurgence of D2C marketplaces: As many brands want more control over the branded space and user shopping experience, D2C marketplaces are witnessing a comeback. Users like buying from D2C potentially due to the perceived quality and authenticity of buying straight from the source.
Fashion and Beauty lead in social adoption: Influenced by popular trends, creators and celebrities, fashion and beauty are the fastest-growing categories when it comes to social commerce.

Platform Features:

Recommended products, live chat, and online catalogues are the most used platform features, with younger shoppers being more accustomed to using experiential, assistive features. Key takeaways include:

Shopping experience/assistance features are expected by users: 92 per cent of users claim to have used some type of platform feature when they shop online.
Product recommendations: Form a vital point of discovery and strong influence in the decision-making process, >2/3 of shoppers claimed to switch brands due to recommendations on the platform.
Loyalty programs: Monetary value and exclusivity are appreciated, but data privacy and low reward value are concerns.

Influence Points:

Top influences: Brand websites, recommendations from friends/family, TV ads, social media, and marketplace reviews.
Emerging influences: Live streaming on online platforms, AI reviews, social commerce shops, tech-enabled services, and social curation platforms.

Shopping Experience Pain Points:

Top issues: price (21 per cent), shipping charges (20 per cent), delivery time (20 per cent), product returns (19 per cent), and product availability (18 per cent).

Shashank Rathore, VP, E-commerce, Interactive Avenues (the digital arm of IPG Mediabrands India), said, “The e-commerce industry in India is growing rapidly, poised to reach $300 billion by 2030. Quick commerce is now thriving, with over 50 million monthly active users. Amidst these changes, marketers face challenges in understanding audience behaviour across multiple shopping platforms. To simplify these complexities and provide valuable insights, we conducted a detailed study of over 7,000 online shoppers. Our report explores strategic consumer nuances, growth drivers, and online buying behaviour across key demographics, industry categories, and shopping platforms. I am confident that the Indian Online Shopper 3.0 will serve as a valuable resource for businesses and industry professionals navigating this dynamic market.”