Consumers outside dense urban India go online, drive retail revolution

On the other hand, the lack of discounts and special offers in physical stores, along with large crowds in malls during weekends are some of the reasons why urban dwellers prefer to shop online.

Non-metro Indian consumers are dedicating more time to shopping, with order volumes in tier-2 and -3 cities expanding by more than 60 per cent compared to previous years, PwC said in a release.

Such consumers are driving a retail revolution in the country, PwC noted. In the festive season last year, consumers from tier-2, -3 and -4 cities contributed to more than 80 per cent of sales for Meesho and Amazon, highlighting a major opportunity for brands to tap into the growing aspirations and needs of consumers from these markets.

Like most urban households, in families residing outside densely-populated urban areas, big ticket purchases are not solely driven by men and homemakers play an active role in influencing decision making, even though men are the ones making the actual purchase.

It has been observed that apps are preferred over websites to shop online. However, this behaviour changes when it comes to purchasing high-ticket items.

Consumers in densely populated urban areas, who prioritise speed in online shopping, are particularly drawn to prompt delivery services which meet their demand for instant gratification and are willing to pay a premium price for the same. But non-metro consumers are keener on deals. These consumers are bargain and discount hunters. 

As most urban women navigate shopping platforms like seasoned professionals, weighing their benefits and drawbacks, older women in non-metro areas tend to approach it with more cautious curiosity than others and are hesitant to shop online due to concerns about payment fraud, credibility of unfamiliar websites and doubts regarding product quality matching the images shown.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)