Online shopping sites make a killing

Apparels and accessories are now becoming first online purchase of a majority of Indian buyers as benefits like discounts on brands and cash on delivery prompt them to shop on the web, a study by Google and TNS said on Monday.

According to the study, in terms of first products bought online, apparels and accessories emerged as the top category (84 per cent), followed by electronics (71 per cent), beauty and personal care (64 per cent) and books (62 per cent).

“For many, their first purchase was apparels and accessories, which is why we think this category will become bigger than consumer electronics in 2013,” said Google India managing director Rajan Anandan.

Overall, consumer electronics remained the most-searched product category (34 per cent), followed by apparels and accessories (30 per cent). “Consumer interest on Google Search for apparels and accessories has increased from 28 per cent in 2011 to 20 per cent in 2012. This category is expected to become bigger than consumer electronics in 2013 in terms of absolute query volumes,” said Google industry director (ecommerce, classifieds and media) Nitin Bawankule.

Search queries related to buying consumer electronics, on the other hand, declined from 39 per cent in 2011 to 34 per cent in 2012.

Other categories that Indians searched for online were books (15 per cent), beauty and personal care (10 per cent), home and furnishing (six per cent), baby products (two per cent) and healthcare (three per cent).

Interest in online shopping in India saw 128 per cent growth in 2012 (over 2011) compared to 40 per cent growth in 2011 (over 2010), the study said. “With eight million Indians shopping online in 2012, the online shopping industry is growing rapidly and will continue to see exponential growth,” said Anandan.