Deeper, not wider, that?s the story of the Internet in India. Existing users are accessing the net more, but not enough new members are signing up.
A study by online research firm JuxtConsult puts the Indian online landscape in perspective. A survey of over 2.5 lakh people in 100 cities and over 1,000 villages in April-May this year on ?online Indians and their net usage behavior and preferences? reflects that Internet has permeated only 10% Indian households and only 4.4% Indians, as two-third households have multiple users. The increase in number of users has been only 8% over the past year, but among the users, 97% are using the Internet regularly and 79% use the net daily. In another words, the pond is not growing, but getting ?fishier?.
Users have increased more in smaller urban areas (with a population of less than five lakh) and, in fact, account for half of all urban Internet users. The southern part of the country has been found to be more net-savvy. Also, home continues to be the largest single place of access at 53%.
However, for Internet to reach to the masses, factors such as availability, accessibility, affordability, relevance in day-to-day life, simpler/less technical operability and language comfort-ability need to be addressed. Also, for existing users, connectivity, speed and content have to be enhanced.
For instance, ?social interactivity? has been found to be the mainline Internet activity, but it should not be confused with ?social media?. What has gained importance is mainly personal and professional interaction and sharing (social networking, professional networking, communities) and not necessarily discussion, debates or commenting (blogs, product reviews, forums, etc).
Social interactivity platforms put together account for 81% of all regular Internet users, which is up 13% over last year. However, blogs still lag behind with just a 29% readership. Also, the net is increasingly being seen as a medium of entertainment, with music downloading, PC to mobile sms, videos, movies and screensavers/wallpapers gaining noticeably.
Ironically, despite the Internet?s unmatched possibilities as a marketing medium, it largely remains a window shop for Indians. The base of online buyers has been hovering around just one in five for the past two-three years. It is equally ironical that ownership of credit cards among online Indians is also around one in four for the past couple of years.
As for access through mobiles, it is essentially an urban phenomenon and that, too, involves dual access to the Internet through PCs as well. So even if access on mobile phones has tripled in the past year, with 23% users, most of them use computers as well.