What do Chennai’s men buy the most online? Take a wild guess…Shoes? Ties? DVDs? No, it’s moustache trimmers, according to the eBay India Census 2012. The census is a compilation and analysis of all buying and selling transactions by Indians on eBay between July 2011 and December 2012.
The report throws up interesting facts. For example, did you know that, on an average, on eBay India a beauty product is sold every minute…a mobile handset every two minutes…an auto accessory every three minutes…a stamp every four minutes…a watch every five minutes… in short, an online transaction takes place every minute? This goes to show the popularity of ecommerce portals in the country. The city rankings for the top 10 ecommerce hubs show Delhi on top, followed by Mumbai, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh and Pune. And it’s not just the metropolitan and big cities; surprisingly, smaller towns such as Guntur (Andhra Pradesh), Choryasi (Gujarat), Karthikappally (Kerala), Villupuram and Kuttalam (Tamil Nadu), and Kadma (Jharkhand) have taken to ecommerce as well.
The trading patterns (export, import, buying and selling) too differ from one city to another. While Hyderabad buys the most number of tablets and Bluetooth headsets, Kolkata invests in dual SIM phones and Indian stamp miniature sheets, Bengaluru buys home theatre accessories and camera filters and Delhi buys bodycare products and mobile screen protectors. Let’s get an idea of what Chennai-ites are investing in, apart from, of course, the moustache trimmers. Laptop accessories, British India coins, men’s wallets, fragrances and kurtis are the top five categories bought.
Tech savvy shoppers
“Chennai is probably becoming more tech savvy as this year there has been a rise in electronic purchases from 46 per cent to 49 per cent. As highlighted in the Census, in respect of domestic purchases, electronic products followed by lifestyle products (40 per cent) account for the maximum share of purchases by Chennai-ites. However, lifestyle products account for the maximum share (50 per cent) of import purchases in Chennai,” says Deepa Thomas — ecommerce evangelist, eBay India.
Flipkart, another popular portal, says its top selling categories in Chennai are laptops, cameras, mobiles and pen drives. Dedicated mostly to gadgets, books and DVDs, this site recently added apparel and footwear to its virtual shelves. “The online apparel market alone is currently pegged at around Rs. 100 crore a month in India. Having gained some experience with lifestyle products such as perfumes and bags over the past few months, and given the number of queries and requests we have received for clothing and footwear, we felt the time was right for this launch,” says Ravi Vora, Sr. VP, Marketing, Flipkart.
Surprising results
For Myntra, Chennai ranks among the top six cities in terms of sales. “Apparel and footwear comprise the highest selling category in Chennai with clients preferring T-shirts,” says Ganesh Subramanian, Chief Merchandising Officer, Myntra. What’s fascinating is, the city, often considered conservative, shows up surprising results when it comes to men’s buying patterns. “A recent trend noticed in Chennai is that more men are buying coloured jeans/trousers and coloured denims this season,” he says.
According to Thomas, “As far as beauty products go, Tamil Nadu exports the most men’s skincare products.”
About future trends, Vora says increasing smartphone penetration, expansion of 3G services and more people accessing the Net on the go will contribute to the rapid expansion of this channel in the coming year. “We see a lot of growth coming from tier two markets as well. With consumers in these markets becoming more aware of brands and products, not to mention an increase in their purchasing power, online shopping is becoming a buzzword in these areas.”
The boom in online shopping means that the audience is getting younger as well. Sample this: 10 to 15 per cent of traffic on Myntra comes from shoppers aged below 18 and most of the shoppers are in the 18-35 age group with a vast majority in the 23-28 bracket. For Flipkart, the majority of shoppers on their site are in the 25-40 age group. “However, in recent times, we have witnessed increasing traffic from 18- to 25-year-olds as well and the number of women who visit our site has also been going up,” says Vora. As for eBay, the eligible age to register is 18 and above and their target consumer goes up to age 40 as well.
“We see as much as 30 per cent of online shoppers in 2013 being women. This includes homemakers, professionals, entrepreneurs and working women," says Thomas.
Sure, there is still a majority that believes the shopping experience is complete only when you touch, feel and try things, but the figures of online shoppers are obviously expected to rise what with the wide platter of choices and the convenience this mode of shopping offers.
