August 18 2021: The Bain & Co annual study, How India shops online 2021 reports that India has the third-largest online shopper base globally, with 140 million e-retail shoppers in 2020, only behind China and the US.
Read our main story here: While overall retail market shrank during pandemic, e-market saw growth in India (indiatechonline.com)
We bring you, below, some extracts from the Executive summary which includes a tech trends analysis on the Future of  Online Shopping

A deep understanding of the consumer shopping journey—from discovery to purchase—forms the bedrock of e-retail success for leading digital brands. In addition to cross-category shopping habits, we have zeroed in on the electronics category to better understand consumer shopping behaviour. Brands must study this behaviour as they look to scale their digital presence and grab a larger share of online shopping in their categories. Key insights for brands and platforms include:
Cut through the clutter and do it fast: An e-retail visitor spends fewer than 10 minutes per visit on a platform. Shoppers browse 10 product pages, on average, in electronics, and more than 15 in mobiles before adding any to their cart. Brands and sellers have limited time to tell their story and make an impression in the minds of the consumers. Images are key—1 in 2 visitors browse image galleries, whereas only 1 in 22 read product descriptions.
Voice and vernacular are no longer niche: 1 in 10 platform users adopt voice search, and 1 in 3 new e-retail users visit through a vernacular platform interface. Voice and vernacular searches will increasingly become mainstream.
 Category-led nuances in search patterns: Search patterns and habits vary by product. Shoppers primarily search by brand names when buying mobiles and televisions; however, they search by product categories for items like laptops and large appliances (air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines).
Influencers have a growing influence: Approximately 40% of online shoppers made at least one purchase through social media channels (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) in 2020. Content creators and influencers will play an increasingly critical role in the future of commerce.
Digital payments are gaining fast, but cash remains key: Use of digital payments and credit has accelerated significantly, although cash purchases continue to account for approximately 45% to 50% of the e-retail gross merchandise value (GMV), even during the pandemic. The use of credit is more pronounced in the electronics category, with three times more adoption of equated monthly instalment (EMI) or credit schemes vs. other categories.
Future of online shopping: 6 megatrends
As e-retail accessibility continues to expand, a new wave of shoppers will come online. Majority of these future online shoppers are likely already in the digital funnel—watching videos and using chat and social media apps, but e-retailers will need to accelerate their transition to commerce. This involves a deep understanding of their needs and interaction patterns with brands and platforms. As firms look to out-innovate each other to win this next generation of online shoppers, we envision six mega-trends playing out in the India e-retail ecosystem:
Digital ecosystems: The pandemic provided a strong stimulus to all digital services (e.g., payments, health tech, ed tech). Large e-retailers have started creating scale ecosystems, serving as a one-stop shop for digital and retail needs. These ecosystems use sticky offerings such as video streaming and gaming to drive consumer engagement and capture a larger share of consumer time and spending.
Voice and vernacular: Voice and vernacular are core to attracting the next generation of consumers. Use of voice-assistant apps doubled to approximately 5–6 million monthly users in 2021 (average until May). Web pages were translated to vernacular languages approximately 50% more in 2020 compared with 2019. Use of vernacular-language apps such as ShareChat and Daily Hunt continued to accelerate through the pandemic.
Video commerce: The video-watching user base expanded greatly during the pandemic and grew by 25% in India in the past year alone, increasing to 350–400 million users. Hundreds of thousands of creators will help propel livestreaming and video-enabled commerce significantly in the coming years. Multiple livestreaming commerce start-ups have already emerged in India and are growing rapidly. In China, livestreaming commerce accounts for 9%–10% of overall GMV.
Social commerce: Peer and community influence will play a much more significant role for the next wave of online shoppers. Social commerce GMV (approximately $1.5–2 billion in FY20) could grow at a 55%–60% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over FY20–25, with the potential to empower 40 million small businesses and turbocharge women entrepreneurs. This will further democratise e-retail, with three in five social shoppers coming from tier-2/smaller towns.
Direct-to-consumer (D2C): Brands are looking for more ways to directly engage with consumers and give them a differentiated experience. Accelerated by the pandemic, there has been an explosion in D2C brands in India—both established and insurgent (nearly doubled from 2 years ago).
Omnichannel commerce: Consumers are increasingly switching between offline and online touchpoints across their purchase journey. Offline retailers are also increasingly going online and are partnering with e-retailers to offer consumers a seamless experience.