Calling out mobile as the growth engine for the Internet Industry, a report by Google outlines how mass adoption of mobile phones is driving adoption of newer services, becoming the primary screen for consumption of media and defining the new user experiences.

With over 200 million mobile Internet users in the country, mobile captured 60 per cent share of all shopping related queries, and over 50 per cent share of all travel related queries. Even for YouTube, over 60 per cent of views were now coming from mobile.

With users adopting hyper-local services, buying beauty products and furniture online, the report highlights the evolving behaviour of the Indian users on the Internet, with growing confidence to shop online.

In 2015, 50 per cent of women who shopped online purchased beauty products on the Internet. Home furnishing saw 57 per cent y-o-y growth in search queries on Google and hyper-local services seeing fast adoption in metros registering 32 per cent y-o-y growth in search queries.

“From planning holidays, to decorating homes, to buying groceries, watching their favourite videos online, mobile Internet is beginning to influence, and in many cases define, an Indian user’s first experience online – and the Industry is taking notice. It is clear that the Indian users are embracing the Internet like never before.” said Rajan Anandan, VP and Managing Director, Google India.

With tier-2 cities driving the next wave of growth driven from smartphones, 2015 saw adoption of Internet by older age groups seeking diverse variety of information and embracing new age platforms. Used car searches from non-metros grew rapidly, with three in four searches for used car searches coming from tier-2 cities. Real estate searches from tier-2 cities saw massive surge, witnessing a 100-per-cent y-o-y growth. In the pre-owned category, searches for used cars formed the largest share with seven in ten searches coming in for used cars.

With the growing Internet penetration, the industry has also evolved its offerings to serve the needs of online users. Easy-to-adopt products introduced by banking and insurance companies saw immediate adoption, with one in four users buying auto insurance online.

Over 50 per cent of health insurance queries came from mobile phones. Telcos also introduced new convenient services aimed to increase customer satisfaction and engagement, with telecom service provider’s apps seeing over 170 per cent y-o-y growth in search queries.

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