A steep upward trend in e-commerce propelled by expediency has seen online purchases made through mobile phones in India double over the last two years.
An Online Shopping survey 2014 by MasterCard, covering 14 countries across Asia Pacific, showed that China continued to lead the chart among mobile shoppers with 70.1 per cent of respondents polled having used their device to make online purchases. It was followed by India (62.9 per cent), Taiwan (62.6 per cent), Thailand (58.8 per cent) and Indonesia (54.9 per cent).
The report on the online shopping habits of respondents, includes interviews with 7,000 respondents aged between 18-64 years from 14 markets.
India ranked second with 81.2 per cent of respondents accessing the internet for online shopping while China leads with 86.6 per cent. The MasterCard survey found that 95 per cent of Indian respondents, have access to the internet through with mobile phone.
The most compelling reasons for driving smartphone shopping in India were the ability to shop on the go (47.7 per cent), the growing availability of apps that makes it easier to shop (45.3 per cent) and the convenience (38.1 per cent).
Mobile phones/mobile gadget apps (28.8 per cent) topped the list of items purchased through smartphones, followed by tickets for cinema/movie theatres (26.7 per cent) and clothing/fashion accessories (24 per cent).
Further, for online transactions, the most common payment methods used are debit cards and cash although new mobile technologies are gaining traction in the region.
“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,” Vikas Varma, Area Head South Asia, MasterCard, said in a statement. “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.”
