According to the latest Mastercard Online Shopping Survey, India leads the Asia Pacific region with 72.1 percent consumers feeling secure about shopping online. The survey also highlights security of payment facility and convenient payment methods as the two key factors considered during online shopping by Indian consumers.
Mastercard Online Shopping Survey further revealed that more than four-fifth of the Indian consumers access the internet for online shopping while three-fourths of them tend to make online purchases using their mobile phones.
The top three reasons for buying online through mobile phones have been cited as convenience, ease of shopping on the go and an increasing number of apps that make shopping online easier.
Porush Singh, Country Corporate officer, India and Division president, South Asia, Mastercard, said: “It is very encouraging to see Indian consumers feel increasingly secure when shopping online. This aligns very well with Mastercard’s strong commitment to develop a safe and secure network for the Indian payments ecosystem.
“The Internet of Things (IoT) is creating a more digitally-driven and digitally-connected world, with an estimated 300 million smartphones in use currently in India. Over the past three years alone, Mastercard has invested Rs. 6,700 crores towards developing new technologies that balance the need for increased security with the desire for greater convenience in payments.
"You see this today in chip cards, safe and secure mobile wallets and the creation of a seamless online shopping experience. We will further leverage new technologies to deliver greater security in online shopping with Mastercard Identity Check and host of other new features.”
In terms of consumer categories, women and those in the age bracket of 25-44 years, stand out as two significant segments who are more likely to access the internet for online shopping.
Across Asia Pacific, eight out of 10 consumers who have shopped online last year intend to make at least one online purchase in the first half of 2017. This trend is led by those in the emerging markets including China (97.3 percent), Vietnam (96.2 percent) and India (92.9 percent), followed by Malaysia (92.8 percent) and Thailand (87.1 percent).
Online shopping behaviour trends in India
* 85.1 percent of consumers consider online shopping easy. About eight in 10 also consider online reviews of products, view it as convenient, tend to go to the same sites again and find online shopping easier than shopping with a catalogue.
* Most online shoppers plan in advance about the products/ services to buy before making a purchasing decision. Looking for online reviews of products (up since 2014) and browsing the internet in general are the most common forms of research done by online shoppers, followed by recommendations from friends and family
* The top three categories in terms of relative share of online spends are airlines, home appliances/ electronic products and clothing/ accessories
* Clothing/ accessories is the leading category purchased online through mobile phones, followed by cinema tickets and phone apps. Other categories that are often purchased online through mobile phones include home appliances/ electronic products and personal/ beauty care brands
* On average, more than two-thirds of the Indian consumers purchase online for ethical reasons. Purchasing products that are environmentally friendly is marginally more popular than products purchased for other reasons
* The most often used technologies for online shopping include digital wallets and mobile banking apps. The other technologies used include in-app shopping, in-browser apps and in-social network marketplace apps
Online shopping behaviour trends in Asia Pacific
* In Asia Pacific, nine in 10 consumers have made an online purchase in the three months preceding the survey, led by those in South Korea (96.7 percent), India (95.8 percent), Japan (95.0 percent), Vietnam (92.0 percent) and China (91.8 percent)
* A third of shoppers in Asia Pacific (37.3 percent) are getting their fashion fix online, with clothing and accessories retailers leading as the most-visited website category. This is followed by online supermarkets (37.3 percent), and app stores (36.9 percent)Indonesian consumers are the most satisfied with existing opportunities and facilities for online shopping (97.1 percent) in the region. Consumer satisfaction also rings strongly in India (94.3 percent) and Malaysia (92.6 percent).
* In addition to the trends on online shopping behaviour across Asia Pacific, the survey also throws light on what needs to be done to improve the online shopping experience. Some of these are:
-- 62.9 percent consumers feel that more can be done to improve the shopping experience with free or minimal delivery charges
-- 45.9 percent consumers feel the need for assurance on transactions being safe while shopping online
-- 44.1 percent consumers feel that reducing friction in transaction processes can improve the online shopping experience.
Additional safety and security findings:
* A majority of consumers in Asia Pacific (53.9 percent) feel secure when shopping online. This sentiment is felt especially in India (72.1 percent), Indonesia (66.4 percent), China (63.5 percent), Australia (62.2 percent) and New Zealand (59.8 percent).
* On the other hand, consumers in Vietnam (34.0 percent), South Korea (34.6 percent), Japan (36.6 percent) and Hong Kong (37.4 percent) are more wary of online shopping security.
* Secure shopping is a collective effort.
While Mastercard together with industry players are committed to engineering seamless payment experiences, consumers too can play a part in ensuring their own payment safety by following these online shopping tips:
* Shop only on sites with a “lock” in your browser’s URL bar – this icon indicates that a site is secure.
* To protect your confidential information from prying eyes, refrain from using public unsecured Wi-Fi to perform financial transactions
* Track your purchases by monitoring your account activity online and checking statements. Any
suspicious or unfamiliar transactions should be reported to a bank immediately.
* Make sure your passwords are strong – at least eight characters and a combination of numbers and letters
* Don’t use the same password with different online shops OR to log into your email.
