CHENNAI: Thanks to the pandemic, over fifty percentage of the festival shopping this year is likely to happen over the internet. A study done by Local Circles, a community social media platform, says groceries, food supplies, consumer electronics and smart phones are the categories that will witness robust spending.
The survey took 8,481 responses from residents across Chennai, says Akshay Gupta, General Manager of LocalCircles. “People were asked what the primary channel for their festive season shopping this year will be. In response, 41 percent said e-commerce sites and apps, while 29 per cent said they will call local retail stores and get things home delivered.
Only 16 per cent said they will physically visit malls, markets and local retailers for the festive shopping,” said Gupta while sharing the findings of the study. Over the last few months, more and more consumers have been shopping online to get things delivered at home.
The primary reason for this is to reduce their exposure to crowded markets and protect themselves and their family from Coronavirus, says Gupta. It is learnt that various ecommerce platforms have already reached the pre-COVID levels in terms of number of orders and expect the numbers to substantially rise in the next couple of months The Independence Day sales organised by many e-commerce platforms in August showed that an increased number of consumers were now shopping online, and the big-ticket purchases were also starting to pick up.
Many retailers who have been traditionally operating through an offline mode for decades have also been looking to join the ecommerce bandwagon, as their sales have started to dip due to a change in the shopping preference of many consumers, as per the findings of the survey.