Do you shop regularly from online shopping portals? Or you do it occasionally, during the festivals such as Diwali or Christmas?
If yes, then in your answer lies data that we all are looking for.
Confused?
It’s simple, a brand is considered the best or top-notch based on consumers’ preferences. Let’s check some facts.
According to the survey conducted by Akosha in November, 2014, consumers prefer to shop from the e-commerce portals such as:
- Flipkart.
- eBay India.
- HomeShop18
- Amazon India.
- Snapdeal and,
- Shopclues.
So, considering the consumers’ choices, we have already got the names of the leading online portals. However, these preferences vary from time to time based on the seasonal requirements, availability of stock and of course lucrative discounts. For this survey, a sample size of 2,000 respondents was considered.
A Little More Insights into the Consumers’ Choice
The survey report provided further breakdown of consumer preferences during diwali shopping as below:
- 39 percent consumers mentioned Flipkart as their preferred choice.
- 23 percent consumers liked to shop from eBay and,
- 12.21 percent consumer chose Amazon India.
- Less than 10 percent consumers opted for Snapdeal and Shopclues.
In terms of regular online shopping, the equation changes a little:
- 45 percent consumers’ first choice was Flipkart.
- 17 percent consumers preferred Snapdeal.
- 15.89 percent consumers chose eBay India and
- 9.8 percent opted for HomeShop 18.
The survey further revealed that nearly 40 percent consumers spend between Rs.500 and Rs.2,000 for online shopping. Also, more than 20 percent shoppers spent above Rs.5,000.
What Consumers Look For?
Consumers’ preferences are based on three major parameters – pricing, customer service and return policy. This data shows that besides seamless navigation through the portals, buyers look for better pricing options, responsible customer care and flexible return policy if something goes wrong with the product.
According to another research, India ranks number three in terms of online shopping and usage of credit card for making purchases. Also, Indian netizens are said to be the third biggest credit card users for online transactions in the world, only behind Turkey and Ireland.
When shopping, a large percentage of Indian consumers check online reviews on the e-commerce portals from where they wish to shop, and subsequently make their buying decision.
As a consumer, your first experience with a shopping portal helps to form a perception. In the future, this perception works when recalling a brand, which may eventually lead to repeat purchases. For these top ranked e-commerce portals, consumers’ brand recall has played a crucial role for making frequent purchases and securing them a significant market share.