The rise of e-commerce has changed the way people shop for goods and services. Online shopping has become a convenient and accessible way to purchase items, and as technology continues to evolve, so do online shopping trends. Speaking of, online shopping in Tier 2 to Tier 4 cities is growing more swiftly compared to Tier 1 cities. As per Indian Institute of Management Ahmadabad’s report, shoppers in smaller cities spend 77% more on online purchases compared to the ones in metropolitan cities.
The report authored by Pankaj Setia, professor of Information Systems and Strategy and chairperson of the Centre for Digital Transformation (CDT), professor Swanand Deodhar, Assistant Professor (Information Systems) and and Ujjwal Dadhich, Research Manager, CDT, about 72% people have started resorting to online shopping in the last 1-3 years.
Setia believes that the use of technology in retail is altering the way India consumes. He also thinks that emerging trends will assist businesses, decision-makers, and others in utilizing technology to build useful retail ecosystems. Also, men spent 36% more on online shopping than women. While female consumers purchased more clothing items and fashion products, male consumers bought electronic products. Comprising the convenience level, women were reported higher convenience as compared to men who seeked better quality, EMI options, and online recommendations. Overall, consumers gave the convenience brought on by digital retail sites an average rating of 5 out of 7.
The study further revealed how consumers now prefer to browse online in their leisure time, with one-third of them visiting digital retail platforms every two to three days and spending, on average, 34 to 35 minutes on their most recent online purchase. The two main product groups that consumers most recently purchased online were fashion and clothing.
In addition to the aforementioned, IIMA carried out a poll in order to find out the effects of digital retail on businesses. According to the research, while retailers’ improved sales as a result of using online platforms, they are still shelling out a sizable sum of money to retail platforms in the form of commission, shipping costs, and transaction fees.
