Yahoo and Mindshare has released the findings of their joint study of the India market: Mobile Consumer Journey - 2016’. The study is based on research of users’shopping behavior across devices for 31 different categories including travel, electronic devices and consumer packaged goods. Findings highlight the dominant play of mobile devices in the consumer’s purchase decisions.

The study throws light on the role of mobile in a consumer’s purchase journey - how the devices get used in different stages, key drivers and barriers to the final purchase decision, consumers’ preferences of how to buy and where to buy, top selling categories on mobile, and cities that see the most mobile transactions. The study aims to equip marketers with insights on India, to sharpen their digital and mobile commerce initiatives and build a strong mobile strategy.

Commenting on the findings, M A Parthasarathy, Chief Product Officer, Mindshare South Asia said, “The ecommerce landscape in India is perhaps the most dynamic in the world, largely due to the rapidly evolving mobile ecosystem. This research highlights the role of mobile from the top of funnel to the bottom and how it varies across product categories. It will help us develop sharper, more connected communication strategies for brands.”Francis Che, Head of Insights, APAC, Yahoo added, “The study shows that the consumer path-to-purchase is turning more complex and nonlinear, with mobile at the center of this evolution. As mobile devices become more important in the consumer’s last mile of purchase decision, brands need to build targeted, more seamless shopping experience across all channels to strengthen sales and acquire new customers.”

As per the study, 31 per cent of online shoppers cite saving time or effort as their main reason for shopping online while 21 per cent cite the convenience to shop anywhere, anytime as a big draw. The barriers that keep them away from shopping online include – non-authentic goods, unreliable delivery and lack of quality control.

The rather startling insight from the study is the city wise break of mobile transactions which shows that 75 per cent online shoppers in Kolkata are open to mobile transactions followed by Chennai with 64 per cent and Delhi with 57 per cent. Surprisingly online shoppers in metros like Mumbai and Bangalore seem more ‘cautiously open’ with less than 35 per cent of them preferring mobile transactions over other mode of payments.

It has been observed that mobile browsing transcends to mobile purchases. Of the total number of consumers browsing for products on mobile, 79 per cent prefer buying on a mobile device compared to 9 per cent on PC or laptop and 12 per cent in a physical store. Clearly, brands have a big window of opportunity from creating awareness to final purchase decision - to connect and engage with their target audiences on mobile devices.

Online shoppers are more likely to use their mobile device to make regular or impulse purchases rather than expensive, high consideration purchases. Over 90 per cent of the consumers use mobile devices for quick and frequent purchases of travel, music and movies. 36 per cent consumers prefer buying high-consideration products like insurance on their PC or Laptop. 24 per cent consumers prefer buying health supplements on PC or Laptop.

Categories with significant in-store purchases include personal hygiene 30 per cent and luxury accessories 27 per cent categories on the high growth quadrant ranked by number of consumers buying them on mobile over other modes - include apparel, electronic devices, baby and pet care products. Users are less likely to buy financial services products on mobile as they see these as more complex purchase decisions.

Tags : Yahoo!, Mindshare, Online Shopping, Mobile App