Every second online shopper in India is a new shopper while one-third of online purchasing in the country takes place at night with the prime time being from 8pm to 11pm everyday, found a survey by data measurement and analytics firm Nielsen.
The results show that the period between 8pm to 11pm, considered to be family time, is when decision-making on products take place at homes. “The e-commerce platforms should target this time effectively, irrespective of the big sale or daily sales. It is such that a person would have shortlisted some of the items he or she wants to purchase online during the day, but they are finalised only after a joint decision with their family members. There is this phenomenon of 'prime time' that is apparent in the digital shopper today with 23 per cent sales happening between 8pm-11pm and a third of the sales coming through the course of the night. This reinforces the consumer’s quest for convenience with anytime anywhere access to the shopping cart,” explained Kunal Gupta, head e-commerce, Nielsen, South Asia.
The survey was conducted using an e-analytics solution, which passively captures digital shoppers' behaviour through an opt-in panel of 1,90,000 internet users spread across 52 cities in India.
It was also found that mobile sales drove a large share—48 per cent—of online sales in India. However, a good number of online shoppers in the country are increasingly buying fashion, including apparel, footwear, luggage and accessories. Interestingly, within fashion, men’s clothing, at 58 per cent, was the highest contributor, while women’s sales are at 36 per cent. The FMCG segment, at 56 per cent, scored over other categories in highest volume of orders.
“It was also found that online shoppers anticipated and held back their spending for the sale periods. More than 84 per cent of online sales came from ‘big day sales’ (from September 28 to October 25), as against just 16 per cent during non-sales days, complementing India’s festival season. During the sales period, high-ticket categories such as electronics, large appliances and home decor saw a 3-4 times jump in sales,” added Gupta.