E-commerce in India has seen a boom ever since India’s tryst with this segment began nearly a decade ago and there has been no looking back. According to industry estimates, the number of online shoppers is expected to grow from 100 million in 2020 to 350 million by 2025. So, while the penetration of mobile and the internet will continue to propel the segment, human factors are expected to play an increasingly pertinent role in shaping the future of e-commerce.

The pandemic led to a worldwide divergence and played a great role in influencing the masses’ outlook of purchasing. In-store shopping came to a grinding halt. Moreover, as e-commerce platforms started covering more pin codes across the length and breadth of the country, the phenomenon of online ordering caught on in Tier II and III markets as well. The growth has led to a massive shift in buying behavior with the increased adoption of digital platforms. For the online shopping industry, the pandemic saw the emergence of two groups of shoppers - one, a category of people who switched from phone-based ordering to online; two, another group of people who had never shopped online for whom it served as a great entry-point to explore how online shopping works.

Let’s look closely into some of these trends that could be the game-changers in the e-commerce segment: 

•    3 Out of 4 Users are Likely to Purchase Products Seen in OTT Content: A remarkable count of e-shoppers emerged who while spending more time online for both work and entertainment, gave a booming rise to OTT content production and consumption. Moreover, due to the proliferation of mobile devices and reduced physical gathering, social media and communication tools became the default medium for people to socialize and be influenced. This further led to a cross-pollination of content across multiple ‘windows’ on a mobile device. While viewers would watch a particular content on their OTT app, they would also likely see some of it on their social media feeds. As a result, the sphere of influence that actors and celebrities wield also grew exponentially and went just beyond being a source of entertainment to influencing the fashion and lifestyle choices of viewers.

•    Over 95 pc Respondents Shop Online and Use Multiple Apps to Meet Their Needs: Including many shoppers who made their first purchase during the pandemic, this applies to urban as well as rural locations throughout the country. This mainstreaming of online shopping can largely be attributed to the comfort of home delivery and access to digital payments. While this shift was initially triggered due to the inability of people to leave their homes, the convenience and ease of online shopping will likely propel this trend further, even in a post-pandemic world. 

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•    60 pc Users Shop Online at least Twice a Month and 20 pc at Least Five Times: There’s been a marked uptick in the frequency and value of e-commerce. Online spending has grown significantly among Gen Y users {35 years+}. A lot of the initial boost towards online shopping came from the groceries and daily essential categories. This was a departure from the earlier trend when online shopping was more prevalent among discretionary product categories such as fashion, apparel, and gadgets. This could perhaps explain the increased frequency of online shopping. With increased frequency, consumers started using different apps for different product categories. This fact is evidenced in the growth in value terms of the average shopping cart. Close to 55 percent of consumers spent 20 percent higher in value terms in comparison to pre-pandemic levels.

•    22 pc Male Shoppers Made More Than Five Online Purchases vs 14 pc Female:  While it is accepted wisdom in the e-commerce industry that women are key drivers of growth, this survey revealed that it is the male shoppers who are leading the shift in e-commerce in India. One reason for this in India could be the asymmetry of mobile users among men and women, particularly in the newly unlocked markets in Tier III and rural markets. The opening of the male segment offers e-commerce companies a huge opportunity for brands. And while most platforms would like to cater to both men and women, gender-specific insights go a long way in helping e-commerce players design their platforms. It allows them to enable features that accommodate and facilitate specific patterns that will help them unlock more value from a high-growth segment.

•    Deals and Discounts are the Key Drivers for Uptake in Online Shopping: India is known to be a price-sensitive market where consumers look for and appreciate the discoverability of financial incentives. The primary reason for this is the ease and discoverability of such financial incentives on e-commerce portals and apps. In fact, going forward it will also depend on the ability of the platform to offer a personalized experience to consumers, including deals and discoverability of such deals that will determine the future.

•    25 pc Users Consider Online Shopping a Mood Enhancer: Users prefer online shopping to have more variety and choices as well as deals. The question of why consumers shop is perhaps as old as the concept of shopping.  However, one constant factor has been the availability of more variety and choices to select from. So, while offline stores are limited by the number of products they can stock and display, e-commerce platforms have an edge owing to their format. Moreover, companies focus on enhancing user design, experience, and also improving the discoverability of products which keeps consumers hooked.

•    The Pandemic has Altered the Online vs. In-Store Shopping Dynamic: 70 percent of male users conduct online purchases after checking the products in a store, suggesting that they need to touch and feel or try the fit of a product. Moreover, as society recovers from the pandemic, the dynamics of the situation and the changes we have seen over the last two years are also evolving constantly. And it is quite possible that the habits and patterns may change over the next few months. However, there is one certainty that irrespective of where their customers make their purchase from, we are likely to see brands and marketers invest a lot more in cross-platform and omnichannel commerce as we go forward.

As the Indian retail industry witnesses the emergence of a new paradigm in the omnichannel model, it is narrowing the differences between online and offline shopping habits since the consumer can complete the purchase basis their preference, making room for the brands to invest in hybrid and omnichannel models. With a very little scope of complete reversal, the changing consumption patterns and preferences are likely to fuel overall growth in the segment. On the supply side, the projected number of 350 million online shoppers by 2025 will only encourage innovation in the e-commerce segment. The key will lie in decoding the trends and meeting the customers where they are.