Indians Apparently Filling up their Online Shopping Bags
A recent research by Nielsen has indicated that a large number of Indians are wielding their credit cards online – and they are second only to Turkish and Irish e – shoppers.
According to the report, about 85% of users online are engaging in e – commerce. In Ireland, 91% of shoppers are undertaking transactions online, 86% in Turkey are shopping Online, and India and the UAE take up the joint third place where about 84% of online audiences are buying things online.
While this may seem like a reason for all of us to celebrate, I have my reservations about the revelations of this study.
i) What is the Sample Size of the Group Surveyed?
ii) Is this a ‘purchased something online atleast once’ kind of survey?
iii) What is the value of the transactions in Rupee or Dollar terms? And with that measure, where does India stand?
I have mentioned these things because if it is just a ‘purchased something once’ then there isn’t really too much to get excited about. That one purchase could be anything from a research paper to a yearly subscription for a magazine. Thus it is important to find out the value of the online transactions that Indians have made online.
Another reservation I have is the fact that when numbers are converted into percentages, they often seem larger than life. It’s important to keep in mind that it is 84% of roughly 3.2% of India’s population (the number of people in India on the Internet).
Having said that, I think the figure, even though slightly inflated will bring a smile on the faces of many Indians who are looking at undertaking transactions online.
Here are some of the Things that i think will take off in India with respect to e – commerce:
a) Travel and Ticketing – convenience is the key. It saves a lot of time when someone does not need to go to the railway station or the travel agent.
b) Movie Ticketing
c) Bill payments – making payments to utility and service companies. Saves time.
d) Merchant Transactions & Retail Transactions
e) Money Transfer – transfer from person to person through a financial intermediary. Thile this has not really taken off in a big way expect this to be at the top spot once legal barriers are dealt with effectively. We are a nation of small businesses.
P. S. Check Out the Video, its about shopping and its HILARIOUS!
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I really believe the only thing the numbers indicates is the pace at which Indians have taken to online shopping .Rather slow but enough considering the number of internet literate people.