Shopping Habits and Trends of an Average Indian

I was recently reading an article in a magazine which talks about how the Government of India is now taking e-commerce as a serious business and how with the intervention of the Government, this industry is going to benefit and grow. The article was interesting and therefore I decided to do some research on my own and accumulate an interesting number for every one of us.

You will be amazed at how the Indians spend and still manage to gradually build a bank balance. The majority young population definitely needs help with its finance (no surprises here though) but by the time they are old enough to take life seriously, they have already planned their investments and goals, which is a good thing.

Let’s begin with the list of interesting facts that will make you scratch your head and your chin.

• Women look for a social and comprehensive online experience while men want a straightforward and simple system to shop.
• Women think about future needs before buying a product while men buy the first workable product and that is it.
• Women love to buy for their families and friends while men mostly purchase for themselves only.
• Women rely on the reviews on the sales page. Men do a thorough research and often look for reviews on other websites.
• Women are impressed by the quality of the website, images, videos and community participating and discussing a product or service. Men are impressed by the detailed explanation of features, comparison with other products and a list of pros and cons.
• 56% of generation X loves online shopping while 41% of baby boomers indulge in online shopping.
• On an average, a millennial right now is spending 6 hours per week looking at the things on different online retailers.
• 71% of people love to buy brands and almost 60% of these buyers buy them because they find the brands trustworthy.
• 83% of the population still does not buy online when it comes to making bigger purchases. These people also do not mind travelling to other nearby cities to get what they need.
• A mere 7% of the people are influenced by TV advertisements and celebrity endorsements. This can also be due to the fact that not much of generation X likes to watch TV.
• 44% people prefer Cash on Delivery and 22% prefer net banking. Debit cards and credit cards fair in at 18% and 16% respectively.
• 57% of the people never contact customer support before making a purchase.
• The rest of the 43% that do, majorly ask about product specification and delivery concerns. 13% customers try to bargain with customer support.

• 54% of people do not proceed with online shopping because of the high shipping costs.
• For 82% of the millennial’s, word-of-mouth or a review by someone they follow influences their buying decision.
• 38% of the Indians spend no more than Rs 500 per month on their clothes. And only 14% of the Indians spend more than Rs 2500 on their clothes.
• 5% of the Indians who indulge in online shopping shop for over Rs 6000 per month. Almost 70% of the young Indians still do not spend more than Rs 1000 per month on online shopping.
• 43% of the Indians spend Rs 30,000 per annum on holidays and 31% of the remaining do not spend a single dime.
• 42% visit a restaurant at least once a month and a mere 2% visit more than thrice a week.
• Indians do not like to spend on dates with only 34% of the people spending more than Rs 1500 on a date.

Online shopping still has a long way to go but compared to baby boomers (the generation before ours), the business is in a better position.

How do you shop and how much do you spend on a monthly basis on your dresses and shoes?