Proliferation of smartphones and growing digital savviness of consumers not only influence purchases on e-commerce but are also impacting physical in-store purchases, says a study conducted by Deloitte in India.
The findings of Deloitte India’s report, titled “Navigating the New Digital Divide2015 – Key Imperatives for Indian Retailers”, were finalised on the basis of a survey conducted on 2,000-plus urban respondents (internet users and regular shoppers across over 50 tier I, II and III cities).
According to the report, digital currently influences 21 per cent — INR 60,000 crore — of the over INR280,000 crore of in-store organised retail sales in India. The mobile influence factor is as high as 18 per cent, with smartphones being the devices of choice for accessing information while on-the-go or in-store.
“Digital is no more a choice but an imperative for retailers in India. Customers want a coherent shopping experience along their path to purchase,” says Rohit Bhatiani, Director, Deloitte in India.
“Retailers need to build a meaningful digital presence and build a roadmap towards seamless integration of physical and digital assets. The interactions between customers and retailers should not be viewed as discrete, but as a holistic experience. It becomes important that retailers recognize the impact on the overall business and not look at digital initiatives as a channel-spend subset,” he adds.
Among the main consumption categories, apparel and electronics hold the highest digital influence.
A great digital experience has the biggest impact before and during the shopping experience. As per the survey, digitally influenced shoppers convert more often; the conversion rate of shoppers who use a digital touch-point is more than 40 per cent higher than the non-digitally influenced shoppers.
These shoppers not only convert more often, but also spend more. More than 66 per cent of consumers spend more as a result of using digital with a majority spending at least 25 per cent more than they had intended, the report notes.
The impact of Social Media platforms on shopping is also quite high and growing by the day. These platforms act as valuable source for retailers to not only make people aware of their offerings but also to learn about customer feedback and trends. Key reasons for using social media during shopping include validation from personal network, awareness and product research
In a store, over 70 per cent of shoppers would prefer to use either their own device or an interactive in-store digital device, compared to a sales associate for their shopping-related needs.
Also, 96 per cent prefer to use a digital device or touch-point to make a payment in-store, with Mobile Wallet being the most preferred digital payment option.Furthermore, shoppers are increasingly looking for greater flexibility in buying and receiving delivery of products.
About 37 per cent respondents in the survey expressed willingness to try the Buy-Online-Pick-Up-in-Store model, which gives them the option of making a purchase online and later collecting the products from the store as per their convenience, the report notes.
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