How India Shops Online

I quite enjoyed reading the newly released report by Bain & Company on 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒔 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 2025.

So, I summarized my top 3 takeaways in slides here that are way less attractive

1. 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝-𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 3 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚

- 𝑸𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆 or convenience focused (eg. Blinkit, Instamart, Zepto): Projected to grow at 40%+ annually through 2030. While q-commerce began with grocery, 15%–20% of its GMV now comes from categories such as general merchandise, mobile phones, electronics, and apparel

- 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒅-𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆 (frequent launches of trendy collections at affordable prices): Offline, Zudio led the charge. Online, it is fast growing through platforms such as Flipkart Spoyl, Myntra FWD, Shein. Also expanding beyond fashion in categories such as beauty (e.g., Korean glass skin routine), electronics (e.g., vibrantly colored smartwatches), and luggage (pastel coloured)

- 𝑯𝒚𝒑𝒆𝒓-𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆 (ultra-low price assortment): Exemplified by the success of Temu in the US, which accounted for half of all American e-retail app downloads within a year of launch, has 55–60 million monthly active users, GMV having grown at 40%+ annually to $14–$16 billion by the end of 2024. Meesho in India has been riding the wave for hyper-value focused commerce. In its inaugural annual report, it revealed that it grew 34% YoY between Apr to Dec 2024. It now serves ~187 million annual transacting users, who placed 1.3 billion orders in the nine months ending December 2024.

2. 𝐓𝐢𝐞𝐫 2+ 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬

60%+ new online shoppers are from Tier 3+ cities. Online shopping is preferred, especially with Low access to organised retail (eg. North East of India),. the average selling price / spending is broadly similar to Metro/Tier 1 cities and shoppers are increasingly moving to premium and branded products across categories (eg. macademia nuts, 43 inch+ TVs, Hawkins pressure cookers)

3. 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐙 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞

They constitute ~40% of the online shoppers. They experiment more (shop from 5+ apps), are highly influenced by social media, more value conscious than brand conscious. And favour convenient digital payment options (online payment >90% of the times)