Business
Smartphone shoppers rise significantly in India
New Delhi, March 4
Online purchases made
through mobile phones in India have grown by more than 100 percent over
the past two years, indicating a steep upward trend in e-commerce
propelled by expediency, reveals the MasterCard Online Shopping Survey
2014 released here on Wednesday.
The survey covers 14 countries across Asia Pacific.
China
continues to lead the chart among mobile shoppers with 70.1 percent of
the respondents polled having used the device to make online purchases.
India (62.9 percent) and Taiwan (62.6 percent) follow next with Thailand
(58.8 percent) and Indonesia (54.9 percent) rounding off the top five.
In
India, the ability to shop on the go is 47.7 percent, the study
revealed. The growing availability of apps that makes it easier to shop
(45.3 percent) and convenience (38.1 percent) have emerged as the most
compelling reasons for driving smartphone shopping.
Mobile
phones/mobile gadget apps (28.8 percent) topped the list of items
purchased through smartphones, followed by tickets for cinema/movie
theatres (26.7 percent) and clothing/fashion accessories (24 percent),
the report said.
"For online transactions, the most common
payment methods used are debit cards and cash. New mobile technologies
are also gaining traction among consumers in the region, with mobile
banking apps having the highest awareness-familiarity levels (38.3
percent) followed by in-app shopping (28.7 percent) and digital wallets
(24.4 percent)," it added.
The report for the Asia/Pacific region
included interviews with 7,000 respondents from 14 markets aged 18-64
years, who were asked questions about their online shopping habits.
The
number of Indian respondents, who have made at least one purchase in
the last three months, has increased from 70.9 percent in 2012 to 94
percent in 2014.
"Digital payment solutions like mobile banking
apps and digital wallets will go a long way to further enrich the
purchasing experience for the ever-evolving consumer," said Vikas Varma,
area head, South Asia, MasterCard.
"The survey shows that there
is a strong need to provide not only secure, but also convenient
payments solutions as consumers move to a more digital and sophisticated
lifestyle. MasterCard is committed to providing consumers with
expedient online payment solutions that enable a more seamless shopping
experience in a secure manner," he added.
The MasterCard Online
Shopping Behaviour Survey, which serves as a benchmark measuring
consumers' propensity to shop online, was conducted across 25 markets
between October and December 2014.