Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI:India’s e-retail market, akin to the broader retail landscape, is diverse, with purchase behaviour varying dramatically by age, region, city tier, and e-retail maturity: Age: The gradual rise of Gen Z (born between 1997–2012), accounting for almost 40 per cent of e-retail shoppers, has been the most salient shift in India’s shopper base. Gen Z split their shopping basket, with half of them shopping from over five e-retail platforms annually; these shoppers are also more experimental, spending three times more on insurgent fashion brands vs. older cohorts. Heavily influenced by social media, 70 per cent of Gen Z shoppers discover brands online and make quicker purchase decisions, browsing fewer search listings than millennials before buying. Over 90 per cent of Gen Z digital transactors prefer Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for digital payments. A rise in Gen Z income and the addition of more Gen Z to the workforce will make it a crucial cohort for brands to solve for.
Region: Socioeconomic and cultural factors influence consumer behaviour across India’s diverse regions. In the North, brands are often associated with status, which is evident in the higher share of branded searches in men’s fashion. Conversely, in the South, shoppers view brands as markers of quality, manifesting in more branded searches in electronics. There are numerous examples of these regional distinctions. For instance, consumers in the North gravitate toward trendier styles, like bootcut jeans and bold hair colors, whereas consumers in the Northeast demand smaller apparel sizes, reflecting petite body frames. Shopping behavior also varies within a few hundred kilometers within a region, or even within a few kilometers within a city, influenced by urbanization, affluence, and cultural factors. In Rajasthan’s eastern districts, close to student hubs such as Kota and Jaipur, sports footwear is more popular, whereas casual footwear prevails in southern districts. Similarly, in Bengaluru, younger residents in Koramangala favor party snacks and ready-to-eat products, while neighborhoods like JP Nagar and Banashankari show a different consumption profile.
City tier: Shoppers in Tier-2+ cities show comparable spending power to bigger cities, with average selling prices being in line or only marginally lower in categories such as electronics, appliances, and general merchandise. Shoppers from these cities are also increasingly embracing premium brands and attributes. Interestingly, shoppers in smaller cities often view sponsored listings as a marker for quality. Retailers must adapt their strategies to cater to the growing consumer base in these cities that values both affordability and quality. E-retail maturity: Mature markets such as Coimbatore and Vadodara, marked by high e-retail penetration and affluence, see about 40 per cent higher e-retail spend per shopper compared to nascent markets such as Prayagraj and Warangal. Consumers from these markets favor premium products, with 10 per cent–25 per cent higher average selling price across categories vs. nascent markets. These shoppers also display a stronger preference for insurgent brands.
