No one’s buying online yet

This is part of the findings of a Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) Interactive’s third annual Global e-Commerce Report (GeR), covering 37 countries, released recently. According to the report, in terms of internet usage India ranks in the lower category, though ahead of East European countries such as Ukraine, Bulgaria and Romania.

The net has also failed to prove as the means that leads to an end—shopping, in this case. Only about 3 per cent of Indians have bought goods or services off-line as a result of information found online. Here, Hong Kong takes the cake with almost 44 per cent of off-line purchases due to leads online, followed by Australia (20 per cent), Singapore (17 per cent) and Korea ( 15 per cent). A majority of Indians, a staggering 71 per cent, have never shopped online and do not plan to shop online in the future.

Says Debi Basu, managing director, Taylor Nelson Sofres Mode, India, ‘‘Quite a few reasons have been cited for this pathetically low level of online shopping in India. Twenty seven per cent of users in India said they have not purchased goods or services online because they think it is ‘too difficult’ and lack of knowledge on such issues aggravates the situation and hence, it is safer buying goods or services in a store.’’

So, first and foremost reason for this dismally low performance is the lack of knowledge. ‘‘Most people just don’t know what to buy, where to buy and how to buy when it comes to internet shopping.’’ he says.

‘‘In places like Korea, Taiwan, people are more affluent. There are magazines dedicated to online shopping, the awareness levels are also high so is the availability of ready cash for purchase’’ says Basu. ‘‘The real time shopping experience has to be replicated online ’’ he adds.

Presentation also plays an important part, he points out.

Unlike off-line, the buyer is not able to see the product in three dimension on an online shopping site, it is critical that the pictures of the products displayed online be of the optimal level. Agrees, Gautam Thakar, chief marketing manager of Baazee.com, ‘‘Merchandising and showcasing is most important in case of online shopping. Description is of critical importance,’’

Closely connected to the security and presentation aspect of shopping is the ‘fun’ aspect. As has been clearly demonstrated by researchers there are two dimensions to a shopping experience—number one is purely economical and secondly and more importantly, entertainment. Visual gratification and the pleasure of personal interaction is completely absent in internet purchases. And this is more true in India where shopping is seen as a family outing rather than a purely economical activity. ‘‘We are, after all, not as busy as the Americans, we have more time and we like to indulge in this time’’ says Debi.

Globally, the proportion of internet users buying products and services online has failed to grow in the last 12 months, according to the report. While global internet usage has grown slightly— up from 31 per cent in 2001 to 34 per cent in 2002—the proportion of users making a purchase in the last four weeks remains at only 15 per cent, the same as in 2001.

But it’s not all bad news for those wanting to sell their goods on the internet. The percentage of users who plan to shop online within the next six months, according to the Taylor Nelson survey, is 16 per cent for India— that makes it the third-highest potential growth area, after Korea (where 28 per cent of internet users plan to shop online) and Australia (26 per cent). Provided, of course, the online shoppingmalls address the main issues of concern for potential shoppers—that of increasing their awareness of what’s available, of the security aspect of online shopping, and so on.