50% of consumers in Delhi-NCR search online but buy offline

Around 50% of the consumers in Delhi-NCR region use e-commerce websites as a medium of information and product search before buying them offline, says a Zinnov study.

Around 50% of the consumers in Delhi-NCR region use e-commerce websites as a medium of information and product search before buying them offline, says a Zinnov study.

According to the study, the tendency of searching online and buying offline is higher among urban respondents as 64% of them use e-commerce websites to research on products that they are planning to buy offline, while just 20% of non-urban respondents do so.

The trend is largely due to the consumer apprehensions of e-commerce transactions with 30% consumers expressing concerns regarding the product quality and 28% fearing wrong product delivery, the study highlighted.

Commenting on the findings, Zinnov Market Expansion director Praveen Bhadada said, "About two-third of population is currently using e-commerce websites to research on products, largely due to lack of availability of credit/debit cards, trust on the delivery part and the trust on what they will get as the final product."

On e-commerce market generally, Bhadada said, "Consumer mobility is on the rise with 35% consumers using mobility devices for e-commerce activities which lay a huge market for e-commerce players. What we have seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg and the e-commerce & mobility market is bound to grow exponentially." Though only 5-10 key e-commerce players attract majority of the consumers, there's a massive opportunity for new entrants and premium services like same-day delivery will have a strong impact on driving sales and creating brand recall, he added.

Some of the key deterrents to e-commerce include quality concerns, immediate delivery and fear of wrong product and the habit that some people always prefer visiting a physical shop, the study said.