Fake Reviews of Health, Wellness Products Deter Over 42% Shoppers from Making Purchases: PwC Report

PwC India has released a report unveiling insights on the evolving dynamics of e-commerce in India, particularly focusing on the shopping behaviour of consumers in tier 2 and tier 3 regions. Titled "How India shops online: Consumer preferences in the metropolises and tier 1-4 cities", the report encapsulates comprehensive research that aims to reshape the trajectory for businesses operating in India's burgeoning digital marketplace.

45% of the respondents look at the ratings and reviews before shopping, said the PwC report. 37% of Urban dwellers accept that fake customer reviews are a key barrier for using other platforms in the electronics category.

The report is based on an online survey of 2,100 people, 100 qualitative interviews, and 400 in-person interviews across India with leading experts and industry partners. The insights derived from the report highlight the similarities and differences in the purchasing habits, choices and mindsets of online shoppers across the country.

Some of the key findings of the report include the following:

• 50% of consumers in metros and tier-1 cities value quick delivery, while for 54% of consumers in tier-2, 3 and 4 cities, deals and offers take precedence.
• With increasing financial independence, women's shopping behaviour shifted from social to individualistic across geographies as per our survey.
• Fake reviews of health and wellness products deter over 42% of tier-2, 3 and 4 cities' shoppers from making purchases in this category. They also prefer buying these products online since there are concerns related to the authenticity of these products in brick-and-mortar stores.
• More than 60% of our respondents preferred to shop using an app rather than using any website. There was a clear preference for marketplace apps since they cater to many categories.
• YouTube emerged as a clear winner when it comes to a reliable platform (discovery. information, usage experience and unboxing videos) for making buying choices.
• Interestingly, Gen Z prefers cash on delivery (CoD) in tier-2, 3 and 4 cities.

This report aims to understand the pulse of India's diverse consumer base and provide insights into their behaviour. 

Beyond the urban landscape, a new trend is rapidly unfolding in India – tier-2, 3, and 4 cities – where aspirations have begun to surge, and shopping habits are undergoing a transformation.

Average basket size based on last purchase

Average basket size based on last purchase

Today, consumers from rest of India are dedicating more time to shopping, with order volumes in tier-2 and 3 cities expanding by more than 0%3 compared to previous years. As India’s e-commerce narrative evolves, it is crucial to observe these behavioural changes.

The report also elucidates the disparities in e-commerce shopping patterns between urban and rural India. A significant shift is observed in the shopping behaviours of consumers from tier 2, 3, and 4 cities, compared to their urban counterparts. While urban dwellers are enticed by perennial discounts and convenience of online shopping, consumers from rest of India regions are driven towards online shopping by factors such as limited product availability and stockouts in local offline stores.

The preference of Apps

Over 60% of surveyed respondents prefer shopping via mobile apps due to ease of navigation, user-friendly interfaces, and vernacular support, highlighting the importance of app-based platforms in India's e-commerce landscape.

Social Media Influence

Social media platforms play a pivotal role in driving product trials, with 62% of users trying products after seeing them on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Urban and rest of India consumers exhibit differing preferences in social media channels for product discovery and trials.

Payments Preferences

Mode of Payment

While both urban dwellers and rest of India consumers display comparable acceptance of UPI payments, cash on delivery remains the preferred option among the latter to minimise fraud risks. Generation X from rest of India regions prefers card transactions for mid-high value purchases, citing transaction safety as a key factor.

Category Preference 

Categories purchased

The report delves into specific category preferences among consumers, highlighting varying trends in fashion, sports and fitness, electronics, home and kitchen, beauty and personal care, health and wellness, and grocery segments. In these categories, urban dwellers prefer online shopping for its quick delivery which meets their demand for instant gratification, even if it means paying a premium. In contrast, Rest of India consumers are more focused on finding the best deals and discounts online.

The report aims to help businesses not only increase market share and revenue but also make a positive difference in the lives of millions of consumers in India. By embracing empathy, businesses can tap into the human side of e-commerce and unlock the potential of a nation on the cusp of greatness.

Hyderabad's Mall Introduces Video Shopping and Curb Side Pick-Ups to Enable Hassle Free Shopping for Consumers

Inorbit mall Cyberabad today introduced unique and innovative services including a Video calling facility and a Curb-side pick-up service, that will further ensure consumer safety. The mall that opened its doors earlier this month has started a Video calling facility where in consumers can make selection through a video call and Curb side pick-up that will enable consumers to make selection and payment online and simply drive through to the mall at the designated time to collect their shopping bags. To enable consumers to have a hassle-free shopping experience the mall has also started new shopping norms at Inorbit that include home delivery, personal shopping, catalogue sharing on WhatsApp – all aiming to make shopping convenient and fun.

With the introduction of video call facility, shoppers can browse and select, from the comfort of their home, make the payment online and their orders will be delivered home at no additional cost. Curb side pick-up on the other hand allows a consumer to collect this order from the ‘curb’ after completing the transaction online. The order gets delivered to the consumer in his car without any hassle. The Curb side pick-up has made shopping convenient for shoppers as they do not have to deal with long delivery time frames. Consumers feel safe as they do not need to enter the mall premises.

Brand Inorbit understands the safety concerns that patrons might have in the wake of current pandemic. Besides ensuring temperature checks, social distancing norms within the premises, minimum touch, no touch sanitizing stations at a regular distance, additional shopping services are sure to entice consumers who have missed out on shopping for four months now.

Inorbit’s digital campaign #FirstTimeInALongTime also encourages consumers to step out or stay home to shop. With the ongoing end of season sale that offers 40 to 50 % flat sale on more than 100 brands and opening of new stores like Arrow, Charles and Keith and William Penn, consumers are going to love the shopping experience.

Speaking about the new services, Naviin Ibhrampurkar, Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications, Inorbit Malls said, “Last few months have been tough for most of us. We have missed out on fun, frolic, shopping, and entertainment. Inorbit will ensure that consumers get to experience the best brands with new services like Video call and Curb Pick up.”

 Inorbit Mall has attuned all its retailer to offer personalized services to the customer.  ALDO, Bath & Body Works, Charles & Keith, Superdry, AND, Puma, Health & Glow, Caratlane, W, Skechers, UCB, Mothercare, Lifestyle Shoppers stop, Pepe, Jeans, Rare Rabbit, US Polo, The body Shop, Bluestone, Hamleys, ALDO Accessories, CK Jeans, Forever New, Wildcraft, Blackberry’s, Inc.5, Rocia, and Steve Madden are few of the brands that are  enabling easy shopping by sharing the catalogues through WhatsApp, video calling and even offering home delivery so that consumers get to shop from the comfort of their homes.

 Inorbit Mall Cyberabad is operating from 12 Noon to 9 PM all seven days. So, get-set-shop.

Over 20 Million Users in India Log on to 11.11 UC Shopping Festival

Over 20 Million Indians logged on to UC Browser to take part in the recently concluded 11.11 UC Shopping Festival, part of Alibaba’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival. The 11.11 UC Shopping Festival, jointly presented by UC Browser, Paytm Mall, Paytm First, Lazada and AliExpress simultaneously ran across 5 key markets of India, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. The partnership brought forth exclusive deals, huge discounts and multiple offers across different categories. Delivering on its commitment of a localisation plan, the festival was available in 14 popular languages - English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi, Bahasa, Thai, Vietnamese and Russian.

[caption id="attachment_138522" align="aligncenter" width="243"] India-Trends-Report[/caption]

Offering a comprehensive and enriching shopping experience, UC launched a slew of in-app activities. About 15 million Indian users took part in various in-app interactive activities on the UC Browser platform, including Treasure Hunt, “Invite Friends, Win free prize”, and Lucky Stars. UC distributed cashback and gifts of value in excess of Rs. 200 million, a jump of over 15x from the gifts and coupons distributed last year. Over 25 lakh Indian users took part in the popular Lucky Stars Game with over 700,000 users winning free prizes. UC also launched a “Mol, Tol” Challenge which became increasingly popular with the users during the course of the festival. The videos around the challenge generated over 10 million impressions.

With its commitment to create a comprehensive content ecosystem across multiple categories, UC Browser generated over 40 million-page views for content related to the Shopping Festival. More than 3000 pieces of GIFs and memes were generated during the shopping period and more than 70,000 articles were created on UC’s highly popular Shopping Channel, helping users understand various products and deals to make informed purchase choices.

“We are delighted at the overwhelming response to yet another edition of UC 11.11 Shopping Fest. The strong user participation has exceeded all our expectations and we are thrilled to announce that UC Browser generated over 1 billion viewable impressions for shopping fest-related content with over 700 million coming from Indian market alone,” said Mr. Huaiyuan Yang, Vice President, UC Web Global Business.

UC Browser is the world’s No.1 third-party mobile browser and a content platform from Alibaba Innovation Initiatives Business Group. UC Browser has clocked in over 1.1 billion user downloads worldwide (excluding China) with half of its global installs from India.

UC, a business within Alibaba Innovation Initiatives Business Group, is a leading provider of mobile internet software and services. The international product portfolio of UC includes content distribution platform UC Browser, UC Browser Turbo, UC Browser Mini, and UC Ads for mobile marketing. UC Browser is the No. 1 third-party mobile browser in the world, as per StatCounter. It has reached 430 million Monthly Active Users globally.

Rakhi.in Prepares for PAN India Services, Launches its Range of Region-based Rakhis

In an attempt to serve PAN India, Rakhi.in, an online store that has pioneered the concept of online Rakhi delivery in India, has recently launched its fabulous range of region-based Rakhis. With this new initiative, it brings about a revolution in the industry and promises to show different shades of Raksha Bandhan celebration.

From the southern tip to the northern tip of India, Raksha Bandhan has different colors. Not only the customs and rituals are considerably different from each other, but people in different parts of the country have different Rakhi choices. In an endeavor to understand this, last month, Rakhi.in conducted an informal survey. The result came out that the majority of people living in metropolitan cities, want to buy bracelet Rakhis, Silver Rakhis, Designer Rakhis. Those living in remote cities - they preferred Rudraksha Rakhis, Pearl Rakhis, Lumba Rakhis, and more. Similarly, results were different when the survey was conducted in different regions.

In order to re-establish this survey, a handful of senior members of Rakhi.in analyzed the past years' data collected from various resources. It came as no surprise, that a similar trend was found in the survey results. After knowing this exhilarating trend, Rakhi.in decided to curate its range of region-based Rakhis. All varieties and designs are available in this range, which people can choose as per their interest.

Talking about this unique range of region-based Rakhis, CEO of the company Mrs. Nandani Singh said, "We are pleased to announce about this new development based on the overwhelming customer response last year. This move will enable PAN India Rakhi Delivery with 100% customer satisfaction. With this, under progress, it was extremely important for us to understand that selling online Rakhi in Mumbai and Delhi are two sides of the same coin. With our range of region-based Rakhis, we have mindfully egged on variant choices of brothers & sisters living in different parts of the country. Hope this initiative buttress our relationship with customers by bringing in a gleaming smile in every home this Raksha Bandhan."

In addition to this demographic-based Rakhi segregation for better customer satisfaction, Rakhi.in is offering a host of other services this time. Here are a few of those riveting developments:

Enormous varieties of Rakhis - Designer Rakhi, Silver Rakhi, Bhaiya Bhabhi Rakhi, Lumba Rakhi, and more.

Rakhi threads for every budget with the range of "Rakhi under 399" being an exciting addition.
Rakhi Delivery to 200+ countries around the world without causing any hassle.

The goal of Zero customer complaint & 100% customer satisfaction - Turning this myth to reality.
Providing additional benefits to customers including same-day delivery, express delivery, and one-day delivery.

Rakhi.in is a unit of Primo Gifts Pvt. Ltd.and it essentially has become a strong & reliable ray of hope for brothers & sisters who want to feel the rhythm of this pious relationship even when they are far away from each other. Started in 2013, Rakhi.in has brought about a tremendous transformation in the landscape of Online Rakhi Delivery in India and abroad. More explicitly, it has become the doyen of the online industry. With its new initiative of region-based Rakhis, the online Rakhi store aims to reach out to every single person in 29 states and seven Union territories of the country. It aims to enable people to send Rakhi to Delhi (the Capital city) as well as to the remotest parts of India.

Pros and Cons of Online and Offline Shopping

Purchasing new clothes/goods/equipment is an essential part of modern human culture, and is something that all of us do, be it often or occasionally. Whenever we shop,  we check out all the available products, compare our options and then purchase the one that suits our requirements best.

In a physical store, you can touch, hold and feel the products and get a sense of how much you like a certain item. Then why should you shop online at all?

For starters, online shopping has made it easier for you to check out all the best products in one, single place. It is not only reliable but also saves time for everybody. The best part is that you can compare and choose from across a wide range of products.

Then again, nothing can compare to the process of actually holding and getting to know the item you want to buy. Getting a feel of the article of purchase is almost therapeutic in one sense, and going shopping is something that all of us (especially the girls) enjoy doing as it’s a great way to spend time alone or with friends/family.

So which is better?

Offline Shopping

Pros

Quality Time -  Shopping at a store lets you get close to your potential assets and shop at your own leisure. You get to examine a variety of choices and buy the one that you like most...

Touch & Feel - As I mentioned before, getting to know the product you’ll be buying is almost therapeutic and allows to you inspect the products closely for any well-hidden damages or defects. This way, you know that you won’t be getting any surprises after making your purchase.

Salesman - So, you’ve just searched the entire store and found two very different, but equally great items and can’t decide which to pick (even if your life depended on it). You can’t get google it because your mobile internet connection sucks, but that’s okay! The in-house salesman can tell you about each item and help you make an informed decision.

Instant Purchase - You don't have to wait for days to get the product. Once you choose the right product suitable for yourself, make the payment and take it home.

Return/replace - Let’s say you're not satisfied with your purchase, you can always go back to the store to get a replacement or refund. No more waiting ‘3-5 business days for the amount to appear as a credit in your next billing statement.’

Cons

Exhaustion - You might spend the whole shopping day and still not find what you are looking for. Shopping for long hours is fun, but only as long as you find something worth taking home!

Expensive - Most physical stores don’t accept online coupons. Sometimes, you may also end up paying more for an item than what it’s worth. Depending on the size of the item, transportation can be an additional cost too.

Crowds - Shopping in a crowded place with sweaty people can be an introvert’s (or a germaphobe’s) worst nightmare (especially if you hate shopping and are being forced to tag along). Nobody wants to rub elbows while waiting in queue at the billing register.

Online Shopping

Pros

Range of Choices - From clothing to food items and car parts to scientific equipment, you have the power to choose from across a wide range of options. There isn’t a need to visit multiple stores each time.

Shop 24/7 - Who cares if it’s 2 AM and you’re in your pajamas? No more restraining orders for shopping in your underwear!

Secure Payment -  Doesn’t matter if you have a MasterCard or VISA. Online stores accept all sorts of payment methods including credit/debit cards, digital wallets and some even allow you to pay later!

Tip: If you use digital coupons aka coupon codes, you can even get discounts or avail cash-back offers to pay less and buy more. If you don’t know where to find relevant coupons, Curated Deals is a great place to get started. They have all sorts of discounts deals and verified coupons that you can use to purchase your favourite products at the best prices.

Cons

Quality Issue - Since you cannot touch and feel the product, it might be difficult for you to get a reliable product delivered to you each time. 1 out of 20 customers claim to be dissatisfied with their online purchase.

Size and Fitting - The size and fit might be a challenge in the case of garments since you cannot try them before buying. However, most online stores allow you to return items of clothing within a stipulated time period (not including inner-wear).

Waiting Period - The hardest part of shopping online is waiting for your order to be delivered. Although you can select a shipping speed, you have no control over the delivery process and delays due to weather.

Conclusion

Online and offline shopping, both have their advantages and disadvantages, so one cannot be said to be better than the other. Large brands have a big online presence, but that urn at the antique store around the corner? You can never get that online.

So don’t look at these options as an either/or choice. Shoppers expect both to be pleasant, and companies are starting to cater to both audiences.

For example, online shopping giant Amazon acquired supermarket chain Whole Foods little over a year ago to open its first ‘brick-and-mortar’ store. Seeing how brands are starting to follow this trend, it’s safe to say that online and offline shopping are both here to stay!

India Online Food Ordering and Delivery Market to Grow at a CAGR of over 7% till 2024

India Online Food Ordering and Delivery Market By Operation Type, By Source, By Payment, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024”, India online food ordering and delivery market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of over 7% on the back of rising disposable income, increasing penetration of internet and usage of smartphones, according to TechSci Research report.

Moreover, restaurants and cafes are showing inclination towards online sale of their food items as it significantly reduces operational overheads.

In terms of payment, India online food ordering and delivery market is categorized into mobile wallet, card payment, cash on delivery and net banking. Among these payment modes, cash on delivery dominated India online food ordering and delivery market in 2018. The growth of cash on delivery payment category can be attributed to the fact that people, in India, while making online payments, are skeptical of the process and mechanism they have to go through while making a payment online. However, with increasing security features being provided by various banks while making online transactions is gaining customer’s trust which is anticipated to increase the market share of other payment methods.

The card payment category is predicted to grow at a decent pace during forecast period owing to increasing preference towards using plastic money, after the government’s announcement of incentives on the use of debit/credit cards in the country wherein, service charges and surcharge will not be applicable while making payment through debit/credit cards. Moreover, reward points and grace period are other factors encouraging the use of card payment in India.

Regionally, India online food ordering and delivery market is categorized into North, South, East and West. Among the regions, the southern part of the country accounted for a significant portion of the Indian market in 2018. The growth of the southern region is due to the presence of large number of students and working professionals from other regions of the country.

“India online food ordering and delivery market is expected to offer tremendous potential for growth over the course of next five years. The growth of the market is majorly due to the discounts, cashbacks, coupons and deals that a user can avail while ordering food online. Moreover, growing investments in online food ordering and delivery market is further positively influencing the growth of the market.” said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm.

According to TechSci Research “India Online Food Ordering and Delivery Market By Operation Type, By Source, By Payment, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024”, has evaluated the future growth potential of India online food ordering and delivery market and provides statistics and information on market size, structure and future market growth. The report intends to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers take sound investment decisions. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes the emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities in India online food ordering and delivery market.

To Counter Online Shopping, Bricks & Mortar Retailers in Asia Need To Adopt Analytics

As the might of online shopping looms large, brick and mortar retailers in Asia should look at analytics as a way to improve, enhance or expand customer loyalty since existing customers represent up to 80% of future revenue, says leading data and analytics company GlobalData.

The company estimates that with the onslaught of online shopping, up to 20% of outlets may close in next five years. But, IT-led transformation is what the industry should look to reset the ‘misalignment’ between buyers and sellers. The company forecasts that ICT spending within the Asian retail will exceed $31bn this year and grow at 5% per year.

Dustin Kehoe, Technology Research Director at GlobalData, says: “The stakes are high. The retail sector is moving IT spend from a ‘keeping the lights on,’ mode to one where investing in technology is essential to permanently and irreversibly change their business. Consumers will continue to shop online, but classic ‘bricks and mortar’ stores are reinventing themselves through technology. Data is at the heart of the strategy.”

The goal is to drive an integrated customer experience that is both relevant and personal, and aligns with the tempo of customer journey. Essentially high street retailers are changing the game by swapping out the architecture.

Kehoe continues: “With over 2.7 billion smart phones subscriptions projected in use across Asia by the end of 2018, mobility is the logical place to start. With cloud as the core platform, retailers should use mobile and Wi-Fi analytics to understand customer footfall, age, gender, demographics and time browsing in stores to reconnect with the odyssey of long lost shopper. These capabilities, especially in markets like Australia, Korea, Japan and China, can be overlaid with video analytics to bring more contexts.”

The use of open application programming interfaces allows analytics to be integrated into point-of-sale and CRM to improve ‘on the shelf availability.’ Location-based services with geo-fencing can help businesses to visualize traffic flow through stores, identify hotspots, chokepoints and predict the future revenue by shelf placements and promotions. The future use of artificial intelligence may even be able to detect patterns invisible to today’s systems.

Kehoe concludes: “While research shows a willingness of customers to provide personal details (within reasonable boundaries of privacy) as long as there is value in return. It will be imperative that data is protected at all costs, not shared with third-parties and collected in an aggregated way that safeguards privacy. This clearly explained and opt-outs are also visible. A retailer who can strike this balance will be the likely success stories.”

India Witnesses Highest Increase in Online Shopping in Asia-Pacific

Asia Pacific saw the largest year-over-year incremental cross-border purchases with India, China and South Korea contributing most, a report said on Tuesday.

Pitney Bowes, global technology company, released the 2017 Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce Study – analysing the global ecommerce landscape from both a retailer and consumer perspective.

The study is based on survey results of 1,200 retailers from eight countries including India and 12,000 consumers from 12 global markets.

Indians are purchasing cross-border with greatest frequency with 1 out of 5 purchasing daily / weekly. India is the only country that has interest in quick delivery for a cost, and are split across free longer delivery and quicker shorter deliveries for a fee, the report said.

The study said that nearly half (47%) of online shoppers globally reported frustration with everything from shipping, to returns, to lost products and miscalculated duties and taxes during the 2016 holiday shopping season. Shoppers in Asia Pacific – particularly India (73%), Hong Kong (69%) China (64%) and South Korea (58%) – reported the most challenges. In the US, 36% of online shoppers experience problems, up 5% from the previous year.

The report further said that online shoppers in India increasingly prefer online marketplaces over retailer websites. 67 percent of online shoppers turn to marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Flipkart, Rakuten, Tmall and JD.com to search for products. This trend is most prevalent in Germany, India and China, the report added.

“As consumers become more experienced with online shopping, they’re shifting more of their holiday spend online and expecting better and better service from retailers, said Lila Snyder, President, Global Ecommerce and Presort Services, Pitney Bowes.

“Online shoppers have an entire global marketplace at their fingertips. They expect that there is always a way to get the product they want, shipped where they want, when they want it. This creates both opportunities and challenges for retailers,” she added.

The study noted that 62 percent of retailers have a cross-border ecommerce business and the vast majority of retailers who don’t offer cross-border, plan to in the next 12 months. If these retailers execute against their stated business plans, 93 percent will offer cross-border shopping by this time next year – that equates to a 50 percent increase in cross-border retailers in just one year, it said.

The survey also found that 41 percent consumers chose e-wallets and 39 percent chose credit cards – the exact inverse of the results from the previous year –when making a purchase outside of their home country. India is the only country equally uses credit cards, E- wallets, and debit cards/ bank transfers, it said.

The above development was first reported in Zeenews.India.com

A Fashion Portal Driven by Tech

Aditya Birla’s abof is an online fashion store that has chosen a different approach to sell fashion. Over the last two years, its market share has grown on the back of a feature heavy shopping experience that allows site visitors to learn trends and get personalized content aimed at their individual styles. The fashion portal features celebrity news, international trends and tech features that blur the line between online and physical shopping.

Here are some of the unique attributes that are changing the face of apparel shopping in India.

Virtual Reality Change Room

The biggest drawback of online shopping is often considered to be the lack of the physical verification, especially when trying to identify the right fits and sizes. Size charts are left redundant due to the sheer variety of brands, different size calibrations and designs. The 3D change room feature of abof was set up with London-based online fitting company, Metail. Customers get to choose avatars and fill in their basic measurements, after which they can click on a range of specially photographed garments to see the fitting. This feature is also expected to reduce returns rates, a double benefit resulting in more happy customers and less waste of resources for the company.

Visual Search

Abof’s visual search feature addresses a conundrum often faced by the avid shopper. There are times when we see a garment but cannot get its exact details like brand or label, making it an absolute time-consuming process to sift through entire inventories. With this smart feature, you just need to upload a clear picture of the product, and if it is in the abof inventory, a match will be showed and you can buy that product online.

Personalized Feed

Abof encourages users to explore new trends and styles for a truly genuine fashion shopping experience. Its personalised feed feature tracks your choices and ensures that you get landing page content based on your personal fashion. The What’s Hot feature is a source of the latest tips, trends and styles curated especially for you, based on what you like.

Delivery on a Sunday

Sometimes you have instances where your package has arrived in your town, but because it is the weekend you have to wait longer. Why experience the hassle of accepting your package on a busy Monday when you have all of Sunday? abof has now added Sunday deliveries to its roster of features that ensure a convenient end-to-end shopping experience for everyone.

Hassle-Free Returns, Quick Refunds

Returns have always been the area that causes shoppers the most tension. One touch returns and a 24-hour refund policy means that you do not have to fret over your purchase for too long if it does not satisfy you. This feature adds to the end-to-end customer focused approach that abof is gradually building on.

Currently, abof has more than 120 brands including exclusive in-house products and celebrity labels like SKULT, a Shahid Kapoor production. From athleisure clothing to fusion ethnic formals, the site has it all covered along with customised features and tech-powered shopping experiences.

Govt To Monitor Your Online Shopping Habits

Post-demonetisation, the Indian government's push for a cashless economy came as a boon for the online shopping e-commerce websites. In addition to the variety of products available at a click of a button and vast payment options, online shopping also saves our time by saving us from traffic and the trouble of physically visiting multiple shops. Seeing this increase in online shopping numbers, the Indian government has now decided to map the online shopping patterns of Indian consumers, according to a report in ET.

As a part of its next consumer expenditure survey, the Indian government would now have a set of questions that would aim to gauge the consumers' spending habits in the Indian subcontinent.

According to a government official speaking off the record to ET, the main reason for this move is that some Indian government data managers now believe that online shopping spending is beginning to hit critical masses and is therefore necessary to be included in the national economic data base.

Conducted by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) under the Statistics Ministry, the consumer expenditure survey provides household level data on spending patterns across commodity and service categories in both urban and rural areas in the country. The next consumer expenditure survey is scheduled to start in July this year and continue till June 2018.

Starting next month, the survey, which aims to understand if online prices can impact inflation in the future, will cover almost 1.2 Lakh households across 5,000 urban blocks and 7,000 villages in India. It will provide state-level data as well.

According to a latest study conducted by Red-Seeer Consulting, India’s ecommerce sector was worth $14.5 billion in 2016, which is a considerably small size when compared to India’s total retail spending of a whopping $750 billion. However, the Indian e-commerce market, which is currently the fastest growing e-commerce market in the world, is expected to grow even more rapidly in the coming years.

This growth will be a result of a number of factors such as a young demographic profile, increasing Internet penetration and relative better economic performance. According to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report in 2015, the Indian e-commerce market will reach $220 Bn by 2025.

With 'Project Mira', Flipkart Becomes 1st Indian Co To Plan and Implement AI based Shopping Assistant

Just a few days before raising whopping $1.4 billion funds, Flipkart had soft launched "Project Mira", an artificial intelligence-focused effort, according to a report by ET. And with this Flipkart can be termed as first India based company to plan and implement a shopping assistant based on artificial intelligence.

The project Mira will help buyer to search as per his requirement, get personalize recommendations same as the shopkeepers do in a traditional brick and mortar shops of any local market. It makes the online shopping experience interactive and live. The project’s beta version was launched in February this year.

A peculiar problem that made Flipkart goes AI way is that when the company looked into customers' purchased product return data it showed that for or every four products purchased on Flipkart, at least one was being returned, especially in categories like clothing and accessories.

The new AI technology will predict the exact requirement of the user by using various algorithms and virtual assistance to reduce this errors right in the first place before the customer checks out with irrelevant product.

The very first version of Project Mira includes the questionnaire of the related products, shopping tricks, filters, and even the offers and discounts that currently running on the searched product.

Flipkart has been silently running experiments on its app and website to understand customers better.

Ravi Garikipati, head of engineering at Flipkart, believes that the "deeply local Indian data" fed into Project Mira can give the company an edge in the domestic market. Through Project Mira, "we let our customers express themselves naturally (so we can) understand exactly what they are looking for or asking about,” he said. "Flipkart has every reason to expect that AI-led innovation through Project Mira will help us create solid competitive differentiation and cement our market leadership," said the ET report.

Flipkart is also parterning with several academic institutions like three IITs of Kharagpur, Kanpur and Bombay, Carnegie Mellon University and IIIT-Hyderabad for research on various new technologies. ET reports that IIT-Kharagpur is also working on a chatbot that can answer product queries from Flipkart’s customers.

Project Mira is still in nascent stage, the company however seeing 12% cart additions and 50% of search volume through this.

Flipkart To Shut Down Website Within A Year; Myntra To Be App-Only From May 1

Flipkart, India's most successful startup till date, is soon going to make a move to an app only format. With technology advances making shopping on the go a reality, more and more people are accessing these shopping sites on their mobiles in order to make use of thier free time while waiting for something or travelling in a metro etc.
Same route is being followed by the e-commerce giant for its Myntra unit.

"Last year, we had more on the app, but still did our web and desktop. In the next year or so, we're going to be only mobile," said Michael Adnani, vice-president, retail and head of brand alliances, Flipkart said in a statement . He further added, "A year ago, 6% of our traffic was coming from mobile. In less than 18 months, that traffic is 10-fold. That shows the significance of what a mobile phone is doing for the consumers and consequently doing for us."

According to Adnani, with the rates of transactions mirroring the increase in the traffic on the app, this app-only platform move was in the pipeline for sometime.

With over 40 million registered users and 20 million products on the platform, Flipkart is the largest e-commerce platform in India.

India with 243 million users is currently the third largest Internet market in the world.This figure is expected to cross 580 million in a period of another three years.

Starting from May 1, Flipkart acquired Myntra will only be available in an app format. According to Adnani, this decision was taken after it was observed that the the website's growth on the application was higher than that of Flipkart.

Zomato To Start Online Food Delivery In India From March

Online food delivery market in India is growing at fast pace, with recent acquisition of JustEat by FoodPanda is one such example that how online brands wants to rule Indian online food delivery space and now one of the biggest brand in restaurant discovery portal, Zomato is planning to start online food delivery in India as soon as next month of March.

In August last we at IndianWeb2 predicted that Zomato will soon star online food delivery services now Zomato has confirmed to TechCrunch that it will be rolling out the online food delivery service on March 16 with 2,000 restaurant partners in India and will begin to take orders for meals on behalf of restaurants listed on its portal and compete with with global leaders such as Foodpanda and Yelp.

"We are allocating $50 million (Rs 300 crore) to launch the online food ordering business, said Deepinder Goyal the chief executive officer of Zomato. "The service will also be launched overseas in the next few months."

Zomato is already testing deliveries with its staff internally, and has promised that it will roll out the service internationally soon.

The new online food delivery service will add a new stream of revenue for the Gurgaon-based company which will allow users to select dishes, see their movement from the kitchen to their table and pay with one click using a mobile app. Soon after India, Zomato will launch online food delivery services in Dubai, Manila, Jakarta and Sydney as well.

Zomato which currently only list restaurants and allows users to discover restaurants earns revenue through advertisements expects to clock revenue of Rs 100 crore this fiscal. With the new food ordering business - through which it will charge restaurants commissions ranging from 7.5% to 15% based upon the rating of the eatery - it will gain a new stream of income. "Revenues are likely to more than double next fiscal with this new business," said Goyal.

Quikr Launches 'Nxt' - An Instant Messaging Service For Buyers & Sellers

Mumbai-based online classifieds website Quikr on Wednesday announced the launch of a new feature, called Quikr Nxt, in order to bring buyers and sellers together on its online platform. The new service allows users to chat using the website or mobile app

With Quickr Nxt, users can choose to make a listing private, which hides their email ID and phone number on the site which mean it allows buyers to message sellers without a phone number.

Earlier, the website allowed users to check the products online and close the deals by interacting through email or calls. The instant messaging or chat service, which can be used both on the desktop and mobile, will help Quickr provide better value to small business owners who pay for listings.

With Quikr Nxt, you don't have to share your contact number of email address with anyone. The only point of contact becomes your Quikr ID, and you can use Quikr Nxt to chat with people using the app on your phone, or on the website.

"This will help us in monetizing. Now a small business owner, who buys a package of listings, can see the value and have a record of the deals struck through us," said Pranay Chulet, CEO and founder of Quikr.

The new service, which was tested in ten cities over the past month, has accelerated the pace at which deals are struck on the online platform. "For used goods, it used to take two-three days for a sale, but with the messaging we have seen that time come down to less than a day in some cases," Chulet said. The chat service will boost sales in the used goods, electronics and real estate categories but it has applications in other product lines as well, he said.

Quickr Nxt Advert -

SavePocketMoney - India’s First Lifestyle Solution Provider Exclusively For Students

Pioneers in the student marketing space in India, SavePocketMoney.com is India’s first lifestyle solution provider aimed exclusively at the student target market. SPM’s core value proposition is its unique enabler mechanism and simple web interface aimed at providing a safe and value for money experience for all student needs, right from curated city based experiences to shopping deals - a complete one stop dream destination with the best student deals, fabulous offers and great jobs.

Aimed at making a student’s life as hassle free as possible by bridging the gap between the inflation and a young adult's disposable income, the e-commerce curator and deals portal introduces the perfect solution to all of a student’s monetary woes. Pocket money is a many a student’s lifeline and we’ve all been there - struggling at the end of the month, borrowing from siblings and friends and even emotionally blackmailing parents for that matter. SPM makes all of this much simpler! The process is extremely easy. Students register for free on the website, browse the curated offers and experiences, click on the deal they want to use then download/sms/print the deal coupon. This coupon has to be shown along with their college id card to the retailer to validate the deal.

"So many brands are targeting the youth but there is no ‘one’ coherent platform that is creating enough noise in this segment, there is no one stop solution. SPM is a platform for brands and retailers, advertisers and visionaries to reach the student community and connect with them better." Says, Rahul Mahajan, Director – Operations.

Adding further, Jinaal Shah, Director - Commercials, SavePocketMoney.com, says, "Having lived the student life, our team is keen to create powerful experiences that will increase the happiness quotient of the student community. After all, student life is all about creating happy memories and the worries can wait till after college."

In a short span of 4 months, the website has over a 100 brands and 6000 registered users. There are offers on 'Stuff to do' as well as 'Stuff to buy'. The website has brands from various categories like clothing, gadgets, entertainment, travel, education, etc. These include Gold’s Gym, Pizza Express, Enrich, Canvas Laugh Club, Café Mangii, Inox, MOD, Tattoo Star, Florista and Aquamagica to name a few.

SavePocketMoney.com also engages students on campus and helps them gain experience and exposure in the field of sales and marketing. The website hires college representatives from various colleges, who are responsible for student registrations, student relations and promotions. Besides this, internship opportunities are also listed on the website.

Google Online Shopping Festival Kicks Off Today, Flipkart Gives A Miss

Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) 2014 kicks off today for a period of 3 days i.e will run till 12 Dec.2014 and the participating e-commerce stores in India are SnapDeal, Amazon, Jabong, LimeRoad, Rediff, YepMe, NaapTol, Freecultr, FirstCry etc. However India's e-commerce giant Flipkart is not participating in GOSF this year.

Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF) is a Google initiative created by Google India on 12 December 2012 in collaboration with a number of Indian online shopping portals. The concept of the GOSF was that the online shopping sites would give heavy discounts for one day, in order to promote their sales.

GOSF 2014 online festival will see over 400 partners offering their products on discount for three days till Friday.

Google is launching new sections like GOSF exclusive launches and one for first-time buyers. The exclusive launches section would feature products in a wide range, including tech products and fashion labels. Also, there is a section which offers users a chance to win 14 minutes of free shopping hosted by brands like Asian Paints, Jet Airways, Kindle, Micromax, HP, Big Bazaar, KOOVs, Lakme and Lenovo.

To persuade and charm the budget conscious buyers Indian buyers, GOSF has this year launched another section called - 'Rs 299 Corner', where all products listed will be available for Rs 299. Several e-tailers such as Snapdeal, ebay, Jabong, Firstcry, Fab Furnish, Lenskart and Yepme.com are offering the Rs 299 deals on products like wrist watches, electronics, clothes, linen and furnishing.

Even as major e-commerce players like Amazon, Snapdeal and Jabong are getting ready for the 3-day GOSF, Flipkart has decided to skip this year’s festival a miss. The e-commerce company has launched yet another discount fest, Big App Sale, which started two days earlier than GOSF. While GOSF is slated to be held between December 10 and 12, Flipkart’s Big App Sale started from December 8 and goes on till December 12.

Klip Is A Social Product Discovery Tool For Online Shoppers

Shopping is a stress buster for most of us but recently due to the coming up of various online shopping sites, this stress buster is slowly losing its sheen. Nowadays before buying a simple scarf we check its variety and price across 10 different shopping portals and this exercise ends up making us more and more confused. If you are one of those who suffer with this problem, worry no more because with Klip shopping is going to be fun again.

Klip is a product discovery tool for interesting and off beat lifestyle products and a place for someone who loves shopping and collecting interesting products. Just like wandering on a shopping street or a mall, users can browse and collect products from over 500 online stores in India like Flipkart, Myntra, SnapDeal etc. at one place

Klip will act as an online tool that will help you find things which will be unique to your style and set you apart from your friends. Instead of going through ten blue links at a time and opening six different tabs to find something that matches your style, all you have to do now is sit back and trust Klip. It not only helps you shop for yourself but also for your home. By using Klip, you can give your home a nice and fresh makeover that too without making that much effort.

Related - These 3 IITians Are Solving Women's Shopping Needs Through Data & Modeling

Users can do relevant product search on the platform by taking help from their social connections. They can even ask questions and post comments about the product. The platform has curated more than 5,000 products from 100 plus sites and has more than 1000 members.



The Mumbai based company was started by college mates Maneesh Madambath and Harsh Gadia back in 2011. They have also be running Smursh Media, a media agency, for the past five years now.

Harsh started out by setting up his own e-commerce project in 2008 but soon shifted focus to set up a digital marketing agency called Smursh. It was in 2011 when he finally settled his itch to set up a world class consumer web product with Klip.

On the other hand, Maneesh spent a good half a decade on the web before starting Smursh with Harsh. From making fans sites of Bollywood heroes to selling online ad spaces, he has done it all.

Venture Nursery and Mumbai Angles are the two investors who have supported Klip throughout its journey. In 2013, Klip raised an undisclosed from Venture Nursery and in the same year received undisclosed amount from Mumbai Angels and a few individual investors. The funds were used to build technical resources for the product and also to increase its user base.

Klip Is A Social Product Discovery Tool For Online Shoppers

Shopping is a stress buster for most of us but recently due to the coming up of various online shopping sites, this stress buster is slowly losing its sheen. Nowadays before buying a simple scarf we check its variety and price across 10 different shopping portals and this exercise ends up making us more and more confused. If you are one of those who suffer with this problem, worry no more because with Klip shopping is going to be fun again.

Klip is a product discovery tool for interesting and off beat lifestyle products and a place for someone who loves shopping and collecting interesting products. Just like wandering on a shopping street or a mall, users can browse and collect products from over 500 online stores in India like Flipkart, Myntra, SnapDeal etc. at one place

Klip will act as an online tool that will help you find things which will be unique to your style and set you apart from your friends. Instead of going through ten blue links at a time and opening six different tabs to find something that matches your style, all you have to do now is sit back and trust Klip. It not only helps you shop for yourself but also for your home. By using Klip, you can give your home a nice and fresh makeover that too without making that much effort.

Related - These 3 IITians Are Solving Women's Shopping Needs Through Data & Modeling

Users can do relevant product search on the platform by taking help from their social connections. They can even ask questions and post comments about the product. The platform has curated more than 5,000 products from 100 plus sites and has more than 1000 members.



The Mumbai based company was started by college mates Maneesh Madambath and Harsh Gadia back in 2011. They have also be running Smursh Media, a media agency, for the past five years now.

Harsh started out by setting up his own e-commerce project in 2008 but soon shifted focus to set up a digital marketing agency called Smursh. It was in 2011 when he finally settled his itch to set up a world class consumer web product with Klip.

On the other hand, Maneesh spent a good half a decade on the web before starting Smursh with Harsh. From making fans sites of Bollywood heroes to selling online ad spaces, he has done it all.

Venture Nursery and Mumbai Angles are the two investors who have supported Klip throughout its journey. In 2013, Klip raised an undisclosed from Venture Nursery and in the same year received undisclosed amount from Mumbai Angels and a few individual investors. The funds were used to build technical resources for the product and also to increase its user base.

YouTellMe.com - Price Comparison and Product Discovery Portal Launched With $100K In Angel Funding From The Netherlands

Online price comparison and product discovery portal YouTellMe, owned by Mumbai based YouTellMe Media Pvt. Ltd. has launched in India. The company raised about $100K from Dutch early stage investment firm Bright Ventures.

"Over the last year, our team has been working hard to build a smart and scalable platform that is now ready for rapid growth. A great timing for us, because the internet penetration in India is already showing tremendous growth expected to make India the world's second largest internet using population by end of 2015 and we are at the beginning of an explosion of the e-commerce industry in India at this stage", said Shailendra Dave, Co- Founder & CEO of YouTellMe.

YouTellMe.com helps users to compare prices of products from multiple online stores in a high number of categories like mobile phones, electronics, home and kitchen, fashion and health and beauty for users to discover new products. In addition to price comparison and discovery the site also works as a recommendation tool and review platform where users can rate and review products and online stores and help fellow shoppers make informed online buying decisions.

When asked about why another price comparison site in India when there are already some other players in the market, Shailendra Dave said, "The Indian e-Commerce market is expected to be grow at a rapid pace in the next 5 years estimating it to be a $50 – 70 billion industry by the year 2019, so we are actually still very early in the market. The fact that similar players in this markets has raised investments between 1 - 5 million USD in funding only confirms the belief in the online comparison market in India. We think we will have a better way to compare products and list prices to provide consumers with more accurate information and a better online shopping experience. YouTellMe’s goal is to become a one stop shop for online shoppers where they can discover new products and find the best prices and deals on products."

Shailendra also disclosed that the company is aiming to raise additional funding from investors to support their growth strategy. “Since our launch we have seen great traction and interest from online users. This has only strengthened our confidence in becoming one of the leading price comparison sites in India in the next 2 -3 years. We are currently further optimizing the platform and hiring talent to join our team to help us achieve this goal.”

YouTellMe currently works with 30+ Online stores and has over 3 million products listed on its price comparison and product discovery platform

RedQuanta Pays You To Become Its Mystery Shopper In India

Are you a business which is struggling to keep a track of your product's visibility, pricing and promotion across different retail outlets? Worry no more because Redquanta is here to bail your business out of this problem and take it to new heights with its mystery audit and retail intelligence offerings.

Requanta is not just for companies and brands but also have offerings for customers/shoppers in India as well as companies are eager to know how well they are serving their customers, and are always ready to hear it from their customers. redQuanta's 'Mystery shopping' is a tool to measure the quality of service or products offered by a company. This is done by engaging mystery shoppers (secret shoppers) to evaluate various services and report their experiences.

Redquanta makes use of a network of 30000 plus trained mystery shoppers who are spread across 550 cities all over India to monitor and improve the sales and customer experience of your brand. It can even help you manage your staff's incentives and appraisals system by making use of reliable data. Redquanta also manages your franchise performance and saves you huge costs in comparison to in-house audits. It maintains price hygienic across the channel and checks and ensures presence of in-store marketing elements.  Redquanta being a third party auditor leads to better acceptability of findings which in return helps your brand/company.

Users who wants to become a mystery shoppers in RedQuanta's 'Mystery Shopper Program' can sign-up here. User who sign-up as mystery shoppers get paid for it and the pay differs from assignment to assignment depending on the scenario. Generally, assignments pay on average Rs.250 - Rs.2000/- along with reimbursement towards any purchases shoppers were required to make during the audit. Some purchases you can keep and still be reimbursed for. One can also become mystery shoppers on-the-go via Requanta Android app and iOS app.

RedQuanta claims to be India's fastest growing & one of South-East Asia's leading mystery audit service providers. Mystery Shopping is an effective & efficient way to improve processes & customer satisfaction across sectors & geographies. RedQuanta's clientele includes Pepsi, Microsoft, Jabong.com, Samsung, ITC India, Mahindra etc.

The Mumbai based startup has been founded by Pankaj Guglani and Prerna Bhutani. While Guglani is currently the CEO of the company, Bhutani is working as the CMO.

The startup's shoppers are equipped and trained to gather data from all fronts, be it products, ambiance, staff, hygiene etc.  The data is collected by verified shoppers, real people, who do their job exactly as they are supposed to do. The data collected by them is accurate, real time data, data which you can trust without any inhibitions. They don't just collect data but also make sure that the data is presented in a format that is quantifiable and objective, so that you can easily derive actionable outcomes for your product.



The startup's industry benchmarking data gives you a clear idea of where do you stand with the respect to the cut throat competition in the market. Redquanta’s in-house developed software allows instant access to data anywhere, anytime. The startup remains in total control of the entire audit execution cycle.

The company strongly believes "there is no secret routine; there is no magical number of reps and sets. What there is, is confidence, belief, hardwork on a consistent basis and a desire to succeed".

Redquanta is indeed a promising and innovative startup with unique business model and attractive offerings not for just its clients but for shoppers among common people as well. I don't think there are other players in India working in area of mystery audit and retail intelligence and RedQuanta is lone ranger in India so far.