The Indian Shopper – Spoilt for Choices
We Indians, as a rule,revere people with good bargaining skills. It is a skill that is honed from an early age watching our parents haggle with every shopkeeper they come across. Who has managed to squeeze out the best discounts in their most recent shopping spree? Be it the designer handbag from the popular Sarojini Market in Delhi or those amazing stilettos from a nondescript shop in a by-lane of Commercial Street, Bangalore. This unsaid competition within the girl gang is fierce. That said, in each group there is one undisputed queen of bargaining skills.She is the go-to shopping buddy especially during a festive season. Men, though not as vociferous of their conquests, certainly seem to sleep better if they believe that they have got a good bargain.
There was a minor upheaval to this dynamic with the advent of discounts by e-commerce in India. E-commerce players were quick to realize that moving the hollering, bargain hunting Indian shopper from the crowded offline market to the new and unknown world of online shopping can only be achieved by deep discounts. Promptness in delivery, product quality and other factors took a backseat while the shopping pioneers of Indian e-commerce experienced what can only be called a collective orgasm in the face of such steep rebates. Times have changed since the early days and those unbelievable price cuts can now only be found during a Diwali, Pongal or as pecific new-age big sale period like Big Billion Days,Great Indian Festival etc.
However, this deluge of discounts and offers have given rise to a parallel industry of price comparison and bargain hunting. Multiple players like mysmartprice.com, pricedekho.com and other price comparison websites have done a brilliant job in carving a niche in that space,even though we have yet to see a clear winner. Incentivizing customers to shop through their website is another novel way of building a customer base for these players. Customers love it when cashback is transferred to their bank accounts or into their digital wallets. However, this model though highly profitable in its early days has become less so, mainly due to the increasing number of players and no clear differentiation in their offering. Even though extra cashback over and above discounts is a compelling proposition, it is actually a niche within a niche. And hence, owing to the many players in this space, building customer loyalty is proving to be a challenge. Newbie portalslike Xerve.in are attempting to bridge the gap between buying online and offline, offering the best discounts from both worlds and positioning itself as a shopping assistant for one’s personal and business needs.
Since the cashback industry in India is at its nascent stage, most online customers do not know about it. Awareness building is of paramount importance at this stage for these players to build a loyal base and to grow.This customer base will also be the best source for any data regarding online shopping since this demography clearly embodies the core values of any self respecting Indian buyer. But as of now it is the online deal seeking, price comparing customer who is laughing all the way to the bank.