Brick and mortar shops are slowly regaining life but eCommerce has still been winning. Reports consistently show that over the past 12 months, consumers have become used to the eCommerce lifestyle. Here are some Indian shopping trends 2022 that tell you how your customers will shop online going forward.
Indian shopping trends 2022: The online retail market
Reports by the Economic Times suggest that even if the overall retail market reduced by 5%, online retail grew by 25% in India. Leading reasons for this growth are:
- Faster adoption of digital channels
- Competitive pricing
- Ease of returns
- Doorstep delivery
- Product reviews
Apart from this, the increasing use of digital channels helped democratize eCommerce businesses.
Indian sellers who had small and micro-businesses could now reach more buyers. Sales volumes from tier 2 and tier 3 cities went up by 46%.
When people were too afraid to step out of their homes, healthcare, personal care and hygiene products could reach their doorsteps because of eCommerce, helping them curb the spread of the virus.
Consumer shopping behaviours today is determined by CONVENIENCE. For an online business to thrive, you need to configure its operations around placing the customer and their needs at its centre.
If you are an online business, you should know these top 3 things that Indian online shoppers want:
1. 90% of consumers want a digitally enhanced shopping journey: A Deloitte Survey
Consumers want a seamless and integrated experience when shopping virtually. You can enhance their shopping journey by offering –
- Customized exclusive discounts/ referral schemes/ loyalty programs
- Quick links to their favourite categories
- Transparency about pricing and product information
- Returns and cancellation policies
- Easy options for queries/complaints
- Simple sharing buttons to social media platforms
- Product warranties
This helps in customer retention as you can build more valuable and personalised relationships with them.
Relevant read: Retention marketing: The secret sauce for repeat customers
2. Consumers are shifting from electronics to groceries, education and health
A report by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and media agency GroupM India stated that the Indian online retail market is set to grow 3x over the next 5 years. But this growth will be led by sectors like groceries, education and health.
eCommerce traditionally had been popular for consumer electronic goods like mobile phones, laptops and durable goods like TVs, fridges etc. But, Jefferies reported that the e-retail market share for consumer electronics and durable goods is predicted to go down to 30% in 2030 from 60% in 2020.
Buying groceries, personal hygiene and beauty products are habit-building categories. Your consumers will most likely be repeat purchasers for products in these categories.
3. Sellers only get a limited time to create an impression
Did you know that consumers usually spend seconds on a single product before deciding to buy or skip it? So, to make sure that shoppers choose your product, you have to create an impression on the customer through your online store.
You can optimize the customer experience by focusing on-
- High-quality images of your products
- Short SEO-friendly product descriptions
- A clean look for your website
- Reviews section
- Proper internal linking
- Avoiding generic or misspelt product descriptions
A customer has a thousand options to choose from in the same category of products. To succeed, your online store would have to stand out.
Discover the anatomy of a perfect online store here.
Conclusion
As an online store owner, your priority should be to make the customer feel understood. The Indian online retail sector is only going to grow in the upcoming years making this the perfect time for you to invest in growing your online presence.
From omnichannel digital marketing strategies to hyper-personalised customer services, you will be able to attract customers more than ever before. To summarise,
- Create digitally enhanced shopping experiences for your customers
- Focus more on sectors that are seeing increased customer activity
- Create lasting impressions on customers quickly
You can do all of the above on your own eCommerce website with Instamojo online store. It is free, easy to customize and fully integrated with shipping and payment features.
