The number of social commerce shoppers in India is gradually going up owing to several factors such as affordability, transparency, convenience. The total number of social commerce shoppers in India is expected to increase at a rate of 45% to reach around 228 million by the end of 2022, according to a report by Recogn, WATConsult’s research division. As per the report, there are now a total of 157 million social commerce shoppers in India , accounting for 53% of total e-commerce users in India.
Most of the social media shoppers use YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram to shop online. While younger customers like to shop on Instagram and Facebook, older customers prefer to shop on Facebook and WhatsApp. Interestingly, social commerce shoppers are very likely to make online purchases from ShareChat in the future.
According to Heeru Dingra, CEO, Isobar India group, social media and e-commerce are paving strong inroads in the regular Indian Internet users’ daily routine. “Since the shopping environment on social media has ripened, there is huge potential to drive sales through these platforms. Hence, the need for an optimised system revolving around building customer trust and creating seamless experiences is critical,” Dingra noted.
Mobile, tablets and accessories are the most purchased products by social commerce users, followed by fashion, and accessories, electronics and appliances, beauty and grooming products, and sports, fitness and outdoor products, the report added.
Online shoppers like to use social media platforms for shopping as the comments or recommendations by other users help shoppers in making purchase decisions, the report said. They also like this route of shopping as these platforms allow them to browse, like, and finally purchase products on the same platform itself, without the hassle of switching to other apps. The ability to shop at affordable prices is another reason that works in favour of social commerce.
Social commerce users find it comfortable to spend time on social media platforms and shop at the same time. They are of the view that they also get product and service information from the brands’ social media posts and marketing campaigns. Customers prefer to search for a brand on social media platforms first while doing a product research.
“Shopping was, is and will always be social. Platforms, behaviour and mediums will keep evolving while more and more people will go online to shop. This report gives a deep view into what the current consumer behaviour is and highlights that social media in paid, owned and earned terms does get the maximum contribution across the funnel; especially where it matters the most, e-commerce,” Sahil Shah, managing partner, WATConsult, said.
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