Changing shopping behaviour: 49% Indians preferred e-commerce for shopping after covid: Survey

As per the survey, conducted by LocalCircles, 49% Indian consumers say online sites and apps became the preferred mode of shopping for them in the last 12 months. The survey received over 130,000 responses from over 42,000 unique consumers located in 358 districts of India

According to the report, 18 per cent said they called local retail stores and got home delivery, 31 per cent visited malls, local retailers and markets to shop, while 2 per cent couldn’t say. Forty eight per cent of the study participants were from Tier 1 districts while 31 per cent were from Tier 2 districts and 21 per cent were from Tier 3, Tier 4 and rural districts.

Safety from Covid-19 and convenience were cited as top reasons by consumers for using ecommerce. 69% of those who shop on ecommerce bought groceries/essential supplies online.

Consumers used large ecommerce platforms as well as small verticals or local e-commerce sites to purchase groceries and essentials.

The survey said consumers are using services like Big Basket, Amazon Fresh/Pantry, Jio Mart, Flipkart, Grofers and a host of local ecommerce sites for essentials and groceries since March 20

The highest number of consumers say free shipping for all orders and more effective and efficient returns and refunds process will make them use e-commerce sites and apps more for their purchases going forward.The findings indicate that "safe or contactless deliveries and not wanting to step out"" was the top reason why consumers trusted eCommerce sites and apps in the last 12 months.