Propelled by a change in consumer behaviour, the Indian retail landscape has undergone a transformative shift. Not only has digital adoption accelerated, Indian consumers are also increasingly open to new platforms and technology to make their purchases, finds a survey conducted by loyalty and rewards programme, InterMiles.
40% Indians say that they started shopping more on social media channels like Facebook and Instagram. With Indians stating that they increased social media consumption during the pandemic by almost 54%, brands are seeing a sharp shift from content consumption that just drives intent to purchase, to actual purchases – all happening via a single platform. Online shopping continues to score high, with as many as 74% respondents stating that their usage of online shopping portals has increased.
In a rapidly evolving digital world, where speed, dexterity, efficiency and convenience are constantly in demand, over 31% Indians have increased the use of voice assistants for shopping. According to InterMiles, chatbots – armed with speech-to-text and text-to-speech conversion abilities – will redefine the way consumers make payments within applications.
As consumer behavior continues to evolve, the payments industry is also poised for a paradigm shift with technology playing the lead role in meeting evolved consumer demands and expectations, and increasing relevance. In fact, several merchants are now integrating voice functionality on their platforms.
This modern technology-driven digital and social push opens a multitude of opportunities for big businesses, small and medium sized enterprises, as well as entrepreneurs. It also builds bridges by exposing a wider audience range, to relevant, personalized products and services.
With the intention of understanding evolved priorities when it came to shopping in 2020, InterMiles – a leading loyalty and rewards programme, asked key questions to more than 11,500 InterMilers across India. Responses were benchmarked against consumer behaviour displayed pre-pandemic, so as to showcase a pandemic-induced pivot.
