Urban Indians likely to adopt AR/VR solutions for retail shopping

YouGov’s new report offers an overview of impact of Covid-19 on shopping attitudes and behaviours across 17 markets.

YouGov’s latest report ‘International Omni-Channel Retail Report 2021: Shopping in the pandemic and the implications for the future’ is based on more than 18,000 interviews and provides a high-level analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on shopping attitudes and behaviours across 17 markets.

India is among the leading countries to show interest in adopting innovative technologies like AR/VR (Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality) for retail shopping.

Data shows that interest in adopting the technology varies across categories. Clothing and technology are top categories to draw consumers’ interest in trying out these solutions, with highest numbers coming from India.

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With most consumers globally shopping from both the retail channels, the decision to shop in person or online is driven by consumers’ category needs.

Looking at the shopping behaviour of urban Indians in the past three months, we see that brick-and-motor penetration levels are higher for every essential category apart from personal care products. Medicines/medical supplies (40% brick-and-motor vs 26% online) & food & drinks (41% vs 33%) are top essential categories to show highest levels of brick-and-motor penetration than online. Similarly, Clothing (45% online vs 34% brick-and-motor) and Mobile Phones (29% vs 15%) are sectors within discretionary categories to show a greater online penetration during this time.

When asked about factors that motivate one to buy online, home delivery emerged as the top reason cited by consumers globally, with highest numbers coming from Mexico (69%) and India (66%). On the other hand, product return policy and inability to physically experience the products were stated as the major barriers discouraging consumers to shop from this medium.

Conversely, the ability to physically experience products was stated as the top reason to shop from brick-and-motor stores, with more than half in India (53%) saying this.

Having said that, factors such as lack of offers (47%) and variety (35%) dissuades consumers from shopping in stores.

An understanding of the cross-channel interplay between online and offline stores will help retailers and brands enhance shopping experience and drive greater channel penetration.

Click here to download the white paper