Shoppers turning to Twitter to discover Diwali buys: Study

An increasing number of people are now turning to microblogging platform Twitter to discover Diwali deals and discounts by various brands, a trend that presents a huge opportunity for companies to interact with consumers, says a study.

According to the report by Twitter and TNS Research, 72 per cent of Diwali shoppers interviewed said Twitter helps them to discover great Diwali buys.

Interestingly, 52 per cent respondents said they would follow a brand for deals and discounts during the festive season.

About 93 per cent said they have interacted with brands on Twitter before, and 81 per cent of Diwali shoppers believe that Twitter helps them to keep updated on trends.

Also, 46 per cent said they would use Twitter to explore brands and products for their Diwali shopping.

About 61 per cent said they expect brands to share recommendations for the right product, while 54 per cent said they expect to be awarded for their loyalty with exclusive offers on Twitter.

“The research found that an increasing number of Indians are turning to digital platforms to garner information and insights for making their purchase decisions. Twitter provides a huge opportunity for brands to interact with consumers on the platform,” it said.

It also found 68 per cent respondents saying they expect brands to be available to solve their problems 24/7 on Twitter, while 50 per cent said they expected brands to be able to resolve conflicts quickly.

The report surveyed 1,278 respondents in India aged 16 years and above.

“Twitter is the live connection to culture and it is our endeavour to be the one-stop destination for Indians to buy, gift, share or express themselves for Diwali this year,” Twitter India Business Head Taranjeet Singh said.

This study shows Twitter’s role in shaping consumer purchase decisions for this festive season to help brands connect with millions of Indians through live conversations and videos on social media, he added.

“Brands are using this Diwali opportunity to build mutually beneficial and meaningful relationships with people across the country and we’re one of the primary platforms where decisions related to festive shopping take place,” Singh said.

Amazon root for inventory ecommerce model; Flipkart, Snapdeal strongly oppose

Soon after the Indian government announced 100% FDI in ecommerce and altered the policies governing online marketplaces, Amazon reached out to officials to get some clarity over the rules and regulations.

In a meeting held last month, the American etailer has again conveyed to the officials that marketplaces should be allowed to follow a hybrid ecommerce model – mix of inventory-based and marketplace. Amazon’s pitch is that letting inventory model to flourish will also support Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Amit Agarwal, Vice President and Country Manager at Amazon India asserted,

“If we are really serious about Make In India, then a hybrid model allows Amazon to bring in and buy products from these disadvantaged small and medium manufacturers like we do globally.”

One would think that other ecommerce players too would support Amazon India’s appeal. Turns out, they do not. Flipkart and Snapdeal don’t support the idea of a hybrid ecommerce model.

Why?

To safeguard the interest of India’s small and medium sellers, Flipkart and Snapdeal claim.

“..unfettered access to cheap imports, through the inventory route, will deny local manufacturers the opportunity to benefit from India’s huge domestic market and will work against the success of key initiatives, like Make in India, which seek to boost local manufacturing. An inventory-based model of ecommerce would be disastrous for such new enterprises,” said Snapdeal’s spokesperson.

The homegrown etailers believe that SMEs’ business will be seriously affected, if ecommerce firms are allowed to operate on an inventory-based setup.

Emphasizing that the online marketplace model should remain the way it is, Flipkart’s spokesperson stated,

“The current policy that’s in place is well thought-out and suits a developing economy like India. It also provides ample growth opportunities for emerging businesses and benefits thousands of small manufacturers and sellers across the country.”

Flipkart and Snapdeal – Who are they kidding?

Seriously, who are they are kidding? Flipkart, Amazon and now Snapdeal either have their own sellers and/or hold inventory. Flipkart, in fact reduced WS Retail (its in-house vendor) sales by setting up multiple seller entities to accommodate modified FDI policies (25% cap on sales from one seller). Flipkart owned Myntra and Jabong too have its own sellers, Vector Ecommerce and Jade eServices, respectively. And Snapdeal recently formed a wholesale unit to source products.

Then why both the etailers are opposing Amazon’s recommendation when they already follow an inventory-based model? Is making it official an issue? Is accountability an issue? Is being answerable to the government an issue?

And what do sellers think?

While speaking to Indian Online Seller, seller’s lobby group All India Online Vendors Association’s (AIOVA), spokesperson says,

“We do not mind them to do inventory model to build new unexplored categories. However, for existing categories and products they should maintain a balanced ecosystem of a marketplace.”

He adds,

“We can easily scale our brands and products to a new level provided a marketplace would give us same visibility that they provide to their own labels. Marketplaces should decide whether they are tech companies, retailers, advertising company or marketplace. If balance is not maintained then sellers eventually leave marketplace and that would lead to loss on the assets dedicated to maintain the marketplace. ”

Tier 2 & 3 cities driving festive sales for Shopclues?

The ecommerce biggies Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart, have already shown off their success with the festive season sales. Shopclues many not be a front runner like the top three but the etailer certainly achieved an amazing feat.

Shopclues owes its success to tier 2 & 3 cities

Shopclues entered the festive season with well defined goals. Did its planning pay off? Seems like it but mostly in tier 2 and 3 cities. The marketplace claims it received 50% more festive demands from these two urban categories.

The platform experienced five-fold growth in its business within just the first two days of its Diwali sales. Tier 3 contributed to al least 48% of over sales for the company, says Shopclues.

Performance summary

Shopclues co-founder, Radhika Aggarwal states, “Shopclues is witnessing a significant growth in demand across various geographies. The Diwali Sale has also validated, and given an impetus to, our goal to provide par excellence service delivery and effective reach of the platform across all geographies in our country.”

• Compared to last year Shopclues saw a 50% increase in its Diwali sales
• New registrations doubled on the website
• Shopclues shoppers spent 25% more time on the platform
• Shopclues gifting category had 6 times more activity
• The platform’s best selling product was a set of 4 designer doormats (25 units were sold in a few hours of the Dhamaka Deals)

Snapdeal experiencing similar trend with tier 2 & 3 cities

The rising demand from tier 2 and 3 cities was witnessed by Snapdeal as well. But unlike Shopclues the Snapdeal’s demand from these cities grew only 20 times more. The etailer is in third place with a sales of 11 million units during its first festive sales.

Snapdeal hosted round 2 of its festive sales from 12th to 14 October to push sales further. But, it  isn’t the only marketplace with this brilliant idea. Amazon and Craftsvilla are hosting a second sale on their platforms.

Online shopping trends

The emerging demand for online retail from the tier 2 and 3 cities is expected to launch the online fashion market into a better position. This is based on a market research study conducted by Technavio.

According to a RedSeer Consulting report, ecommerce companies are expected to bring in about 11,000 to 13,000 crore this month. Etailer performance has exceeded expectations and GMV is likely to only increase.

Mizoram, Meghalaya, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir were the most participative in the sale.

In Tripura, Sikkim, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Mizoram and Meghalaya there has been an increase in the search for online shopping over the last 7 days, say Google Trends. It recorded a 250% surge.

Musical instrument etailers adopt a combination of tactics to keep the tone steady

Earlier singers would manually work on a Shruthi box to provide them with their pitch and tone. Today, it’s all digital, including veena, violin, and tanpura. So much so even the tabla beats are available in a box. It is therefore natural that technology delivers the products at the doorstep. Musicians, DJs and music students are also looking towards the internet to purchase their requirements.

Most established music retailers like Furtados and Radel, have launched their online stores to boost their visibility. While you can pick up entry level products at leading online marketplaces, young shoppers in the age group of 16 to 35 head to dedicated sites like Musicaa.in, Rajmusicals.com, or Musicstores.in.

Most offer EMI options, CoD and limited exchange. And it is growing phenomenally, says Joseph Gomes, Director, Furtados Music,

“The orders we get are a mix of those from metros and Tier II III cities.”

Gomes represents a 150-year-old family establishment based in Mumbai.

Necessity is the mother of invention

Online musical instrument stores came into vogue around 2005 – 06. Customers were willing to wait for the order and pick it up from a significant distance.

Ashutosh Pande, founder and CTO of Mumbai-based Bajaao feels that there is a steep gap between the demand and supply. He says,

“The logical way for us was to go online. We offer free shipping across the country.”

Bajao is one of the pioneers in the field.

Common taxing ailments

The major headaches are Octroi and other entry taxes. GST might be the solution. Pande says,

“When GST is implemented, we may have a flagship store in Mumbai.” Gomes voices a similar opinion, “Currently, we can’t ship to a lot of places, and we don’t have warehouses across the country; that is a challenge. When GST comes in, it will make a big difference to our online sales.”

Fusion striking a right note

Most retailers are looking at a combination of physical and online stores tutorials and exports to keep the ship afloat. Gomes says,

“This business cannot survive on ecommerce. Only 10% of our revenues are online.”

Customers are keen on the physical touch, says Suman Singh, CEO of Bajaao,

“We maintain a robust helpline for people to call and inquire about instruments they see online. Often a buyer takes all the information on the call and then goes and buys offline from a local store where he can touch and feel the product.”

The company is looking at introducing a marketplace for used instruments.

So combination is the key. A balance between offline and online selling will help instrument retailers to have a good run. Similarly, appropriate legislation and taxes will go a long way in extending their reach.

Amazon launches ‘Global Store’ in India

Ecommerce giant Amazon has launched ‘Global Store’ in India that will allow its customers here to buy products sold on the US website and pay in local currency. The move will give customers in India access to over 4 million products from international brands and help Amazon compete more aggressively against domestic rival Flipkart in the booming Indian ecommerce market.

“Enhancing shopping experience for customers is one of the key pillars for us. With Global Store, customers in India will now have direct access to thousands of international brands and a starting selection of over 4 million global products,” Amazon India VP and Country Head Amit Agarwal told PTI.

At present, a host of products available on Amazon US would be available in India, later on more categories and countries from where products can be bought will be added, he said. Customers could order items from Amazon’s US portal to India earlier as well but they would have to pay in dollars. With this launch, Amazon.in will become the single largest online destination for buying both local and global products in India, he said. Amazon will now have a dedicated page showcasing all eligible products that it will ship to India under the Global Store. It will make products across categories like books, apparel, shoes, office supplies, home, kitchen, sports as well as niche categories like fishing equipment and bakeware.

India is the third market after China and Mexico to get the Global Store.

“They will also have access to unique brands like Nixon (Watches), Jessica Simpson (Shoes), Zumba (Sports) and Gaiam (Sports) etc that not available in India,” he said.

Customers will be able to see prices in local currency inclusive of import fee deposits and get delivery in 2-12 days.

“Prices shown to customers will include product price, import fees deposit and shipping fees (based on delivery option selected) in INR for ease of purchase,” he said.

India Post, DHL and Aramex will be the third party logistics providers for products ordered from the Amazon Global Store. Customers will also be able to return most unused items within 30 days of delivery for full or partial refund based on the reason for return.

Like its competitors Flipkart and Snapdeal, the Jeff Bezos-led firm has been aggressively expanding the range of products available on its platform to woo customers. A report by Kotak Institutional Equities said the Indian e-tailing market could reach USD 28 billion by 2019-20, registering a compounded annual growth rate of 45 per cent.